Richard AmmonCompiled by Richard Ammon
GlobalGayz.com
February 2012
Introduction
After gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes until arriving at its current form, a semi-presidential republic.
Laws about homosexuality
In Burkina Faso male/male and female/female sexual relations are not illegal as such. According to the Penal Code of 1996: “Any person who causes a public nuisance shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of between two months and two years and a fine of between 50,000 and 600,000 francs.
Any deliberate act that is contrary to good morals and is committed in public or in a private place visible to the public and may offend the sense of decency of third parties who involuntarily witness the act shall constitute a public nuisance.
However, any such act, if it is committed in private in the presence of a minor, shall constitute the offense of the indecent incitement of minors. Article 411: “Any act of a sexual nature that is contrary to good morals and is committed directly and deliberately on another person with or without force, compulsion or surprise, shall constitute an offense against (public) decency.”
Poor Country with HIV
Up to 10 percent of the population is estimated to be infected with HIV in Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries and one of the nations in West Africa hardest hit by the pandemic.
