Ugandan Prosecutors Withdraw Case Against Two Women Arrested for Public Kissing

Ugandan prosecutors have withdrawn charges against two women who were arrested for kissing in public under the nation’s controversial anti-homosexuality legislation. The decision to drop the case was confirmed on Friday by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The two women, both in their 20s, were arrested in February in the northwestern city of Arua. Their arrest followed complaints from neighbors who had photographed the women and reported them to local authorities under suspicion of participating in same-sex activities.

Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act remains one of the strictest laws of its kind globally, carrying penalties of up to life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations and the death penalty for cases categorized as “aggravated homosexuality.”

While human rights advocates welcomed the decision to dismiss the charges, they emphasized that the case should never have progressed to court. Activists continue to call for the repeal of the law, pointing out that the legislation is frequently exploited to blackmail and extort members of the LGBTQ+ community in the conservative, predominantly Christian East African country.

The controversial law has drawn widespread condemnation from the United Nations and various Western nations. It also prompted the World Bank to temporarily halt its funding to the country, though disbursements eventually resumed in mid-2025.