Violence against Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community surge in new year
Acts targeting LGBTQI Ugandans increased since Anti-Homosexuality Act became law
A new report by the Uganda-based Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) indicates that there was a surge in violence and rights violations against Uganda‘s LGBTQ community in January.
A total of 62 cases were handled by HRAPF in January 2026, a significant increase from the 38 cases handled in the month of December 2025.
Out of these, 13 cases involved actions that directly targeted people for negative treatment on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression (SOGIE), an increase from 8 cases of SOGIE-related violations in December 2025. The victims of these violations were 20 persons, a significant increase from 8 people affected by SOGIE-based violence and human rights violations in December 2025.
Four of these cases involved actual violence and threats of violence, 2 cases involved evictions, 4 were arrests based on SOGIE, and 3 cases involved other forms of violence/discrimination on the basis of real or presumed SOGIE.
Uganda increased criminal penalties for gay sex under the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023. Penalties include life imprisonment for homosexual acts, and ten years imprisonment for attempted homosexual acts. The law also imposes a penalty of ten years imprisonment to anyone who knowingly rents property to a queer people.
In the cases of arrests, violence, threats of violence and other forms of discrimination, the report shows that majority of the victims met their abusers on social media or online dating apps.
In one of the cases of arbitrary arrests, the report says that the victim was arrested on January 9 on allegations of homosexuality after someone he met through TikTok reported him to the police. He was held in custody until January 11, when he was released on police bond.
In the three cases of actual violence against LGBTQI+ persons, two victims had agreed to meet their abusers after connecting on dating platforms.
In one case documented in the report, the victim met someone through a gay dating app, and during their chat, he asked the other person if he could help him get a job. The other person agreed to meet to discuss this, but when the client arrived at the meeting point, he found a gang of people who beat him up, accusing him of being a homosexual. They also stole his phone, power bank and the money he had.
In the other case, a transgender woman met a man on a gay dating app, but when they met in person, the other person simply started beating the client, accusing her of being a homosexual. He took her phone from her and then told her that, if she wanted to report the theft, she could proceed to the police station, which was a very short distance from the scene. She instead contacted the HRAPF legal aid network.
In the case involving threats of violence, the victim met a stranger through a dating app and the two agreed to an in-person meeting. He was however waylaid by the other person who demanded money from him while threatening to have him beaten up if he did not comply. He was forced to pay money to the assailant to avoid being beaten.
Under other forms of discrimination, the report states that one of the victims met a stranger on social media and the two started a casual flirtation, which ended when he declined the other person’s demand to meet in person. This is said to have angered the stranger who started sharing the victim’s photos labeling him a homosexual.
In the 32 months since the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, a total of 2,178 cases involving LGBTIQ persons in Uganda have been handled across the HRAPF legal aid network, of which 969 cases (44.5%) involved actions that specifically targeted LGBTIQ people because of their sexuality, gender identity and sex development affecting a total of 1,296 individuals.
While the report does not link the surge in homophobic violations in Uganda to the elections, it leaves human rights advocates wondering why there was a sudden increase in SOGIE based violations in the elections month of January compared to the pre-election period.
It also remains a major concern that arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention of LGBTIQ+ persons persist in Uganda two years after AHA came into force.
