By Afya na Haki, an African research institute in Uganda, and the African Institute for Investigative Journalism newly produced a documentary titled “Incarcerated: Tales of Senegal’s Unsafe Abortions,” filmed in Dakar, Senegal.
According to the documentary, women face months in jail for going through abortion. It also claims that women who undergo abortion are kept in prison with other inmates, including those held for murder, and are often detained without legal aid.
The documentary further claims that abortion-related cases account for about 23 percent of women in prison in Senegal.
Article 305 of the Senegalese Penal Code states:
“Any person who, by food, drink, medicines, violence, or by any other means, causes or attempts to cause the abortion of a pregnant woman, whether she consents or not, shall be punished with imprisonment and a fine. A woman who procures her own abortion or consents to the use of means intended to cause it shall be subject to the same penalties.”
The documentary also claims that many of these women are arrested after seeking post-abortion care. It states that in some reported cases, medical personnel notify the police when women seek such care. The documentary adds that some medical workers classify cases as spontaneous abortion to protect patients and themselves from legal consequences, and that failure to report could expose a medical worker to legal consequences for aiding an illegal abortion.
AfrikTimes contacted Fatina Mwebe, a staff member at Afya na Haki, who confirmed that their legal experts found women frequently encounter prolonged detention without adequate access to lawyers, held for weeks while awaiting trial.
A doctor featured in the documentary offered a personal account of how the law plays out in practice. He said he had just returned from prison after serving a sentence for aiding an illegal abortion in a government hospital, an experience that left him fearful of attending to pregnant women and struggling with depression.
His legal team subsequently filed an appeal that led to his release. However, he said the ordeal had lasting effects — shaking his confidence in practicing medicine and his willingness to advise patients on post-abortion care.
Senegal’s abortion law is not unique. Article 305 traces its roots to the French Penal Code introduced during the colonial period, a legal framework that many African nations inherited at independence and have largely retained. Critics and legal reformers across the continent argue that such laws reflect the moral priorities of a colonial administration rather than the lived realities and needs of African women today.
Senegal is one of several African countries where abortion remains broadly criminalised, even in cases of rape or incest.
