The great silence surrounding marital rape in Senegal

By Bowel Diop

Gender-based violence, including marital rape, occurs worldwide, and often, the perpetrators are the victim’s husband. Marital rape is defined as an act in which one partner forces the other to engage in non-consensual sex. A report by Equality, a US-based organisation with offices in New York, Nairobi, and London, reveals that many women are affected by this phenomenon, including many in Africa.

In private online forums where women post under anonymity, distressing testimonies emerge about the violence they suffer within relationships. Out of respect and for the protection of those sharing their stories, no names or platform details are revealed. Behind these testimonies emerges a chilling reality: that of sexual relations imposed within marriage without the woman’s consent, in other words, the reality of marital rape.

As violence against women becomes increasingly common, consent is being trampled. The notion of “conjugal duty” still frequently outweighs a woman’s right to make decisions about her body.

It is in these digital spaces, where distress is voiced and violence normalized, that discussion groups take shape, embodying a form of digital sisterhood. Providing room for listening, support, and open speech, these spaces enable women to challenge together the taboos that restrict their empowerment, online as well as offline. This safe space where women share their experiences underlines the urgency of an open and courageous debate on marital rape in Africa.

A cultural, religious, and legal debate

In May 2025, the program “Midi Plus” on TFM Télévision Futur Média, based in Senegal, gave national exposure to Oustaz Modou Fall, a Muslim authority in the country. This preacher claims that conjugal duty takes precedence over consent, thereby legitimizing sexual violence in the name of marriage. Speaking in Wolof, he stated:

Gnouni loi bi néna sakh sa diabar so beugué teud akk mom té dacoroul daga ko violé . Pfff wakhi dof ! Sa diabar ga takk ko so farata Yallah akk souna Seydouna Mohamed , touki Pape Samba dem tournage soneu baye beugu dé gnibissi beugu teud ak sokhname gnouniko bouné dama soneu damadone fobéré (rires) ga forcéko viol le. Boudé lou amm la , lane moye texte bi. Si diné.

People say the law declares that if you force your wife to have sex, that counts as rape. Pfff — absurd, this is your wife, the one you married before God. You travel, you work, Pape Samba [the host], you come back exhausted, you want to be with your wife, and she refuses. She says she’s tired, that she was doing the housework (laughter). So if you insist, it’s rape? If that’s the case, which religious scripture says so? We must be cautious about this.

The broadcast immediately sparked indignation across social media. On TikTok, activists and legal experts mobilized. The Xam Sa Droit page published a series of videos challenging Modou Fall’s statements against existing legislation. Specifically, it points to Article 320 of Senegal’s Penal Code, which defines rape as any act of penetration “carried out through violence, coercion, threat or surprise.” This is a reminder that marriage does not take away any fundamental rights, and that refusing sex, even within a couple, remains an inalienable right. This effort at legal education was met with strong support on TikTok, as it put consent back at the center of the discussion.

Voices were also raised on X. Nabou Diop Lo, a lawyer and activist for women’s and children’s rights, posted:

Le viol tel que définit dans le code pénal Sénégalais ne fait pas une distinction entre le viol commis dans le ménage et celui commis hors des liens conjugaux. Tout ce qui compte c’est le consentement de la victime. https://t.co/mJcYsxZunx

—Nabou Diop Lo🇸🇳 (@NabouDiopLo1) July 26, 2025

Rape, as defined in the Senegalese Penal Code, makes no distinction between rape committed within marriage and that committed outside it. What matters is the victim’s consent. https://t.co/mJcYsxZunx

—Nabou Diop Lo🇸🇳 (@NabouDiopLo1) July 26, 2025

But how can a woman dare complain she’s been raped when a religious figure claims that a wife’s “no” carries no weight? This dissonance between the law, public discourse, and women’s lived reality highlights the urgent need for legal reform and a clear stance from the authorities.

By normalizing marital rape, this official rhetoric entrenches an absolute claim over women’s bodies and heavily compounds the moral weight borne by potential victims.

Equality Now’s 2024 report shows that the legal recognition of marital rape differs significantly across Africa. The report notes that countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Madagascar, Senegal, and Togo explicitly criminalize marital rape.

In countries including Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Tanzania, spouses are explicitly exempted from prosecution, except in exceptional cases.

In Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mali, Uganda, and Chad, the law remains silent on the matter, creating a complete legal void.

Senegalese law on rape and paedophilia, revised in 2020, sets out the definition of rape as follows:

Tout acte de pénétration « commis par violence, contrainte, menace ou surprise ».

Any act of penetration ‘committed by violence, coercion, threat, or surprise.’

However, the lack of clear legal provisions on marital rape and spousal consent creates a wide scope for interpretation, often to the detriment of the victim. As a result, marital rape is often treated as an ordinary form of domestic violence, rather than classified as a criminal offence.

In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, an investigation by the French newspaper Le Monde published in February 2024 reported that a humorous TikTok video mocking women’s sexual fatigue sparked amused reactions — evidence that sexual non-consent is not taken seriously.

According to figures published in African Health Sciences, 33 percent of women in Africa have been subjected to sexual violence at some point in their lives, with rates rising to 44 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, 40 percent of women housed in the shelter run by the NGO Akwaba Mousso say they have suffered marital rape.

In many African legal systems, including in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, the implicit presumption of consent between spouses prevents marital rape from being effectively recognised as a crime.

When feminists raise awareness on the subject, the issue is frequently minimised. In the previously mentioned Le Monde article, Ivorian activist Marie-Paule Okri, co-founder of the Ivorian League for Women’s Rights, told the journalist:

Quand on essaie d’en parler, on nous répond qu’on exagère. On nous inculque depuis l’adolescence que le corps de la femme est fait pour donner du plaisir à l’homme.

When we try to talk about it, we are told we are exaggerating. From adolescence, we are taught that a woman’s body exists to give pleasure to men.

Yet Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol commits African states to guaranteeing women’s fundamental rights, including health and reproductive consent.

Beyond legislation, it will take a deep change in attitudes to improve women’s condition, grounded in respect for their bodies and equality in relationships.