In Senegal, women’s bodies have become a political battleground
In Senegal, the politicization of the alleged rape of Adji Sarr, a 21-year-old masseuse, by Ousmane Sonko, a popular opposition leader, has led to widespread protests that have left an estimated 11 people dead, hundreds wounded, dozens arrested and businesses — mostly French-owned — destroyed.
Sonko, a 46-year-old member of parliament and a major challenger to President Macky Sall, is accused of raping Sarr on a visit to a massage parlor at night and in the middle of a pandemic curfew, to ease what he claims to be a medically diagnosed acute back pain. The demonstrators — mostly young men — who support Sonko, and Sonko himself, claim that the allegations are politically motivated and deny them.… Seguir leyendo »