Crime in Senegal

Protect cash, valuables and passports, carry a copy of your passport where possible, and avoid displaying expensive jewellery. Keep vehicle doors locked and windows closed, use registered or pre-arranged transport, verify airport and taxi identities, and check the security arrangements of hotels or villas. Avoid poorly lit or empty areas at night, demonstrations and crowds, and warned areas near the Casamance border, forest routes, Mali or Mauritania. Do not confront or aggressively resist a suspected offender; move to a safe place and contact a service instead. Sharing an itinerary and location with a trusted contact, keeping insurance details and storing emergency contacts offline can reduce delays. For an immediate threat, contact the Police nationale on 17, the ambulance service on 15, the fire service on 18, or the Gendarmerie nationale on 123. The Gendarmerie also lists the free number 800 00 20 20. The nearest commissariat or brigade territoriale depends on the locality and the type of incident, and access, transport and language support can vary. French is the official language, while Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Joola, Mandinka and Soninke are widely used in daily life. A victim can file a complaint at a Police nationale commissariat or Gendarmerie brigade, or submit a complaint directly to the Procureur de la République. Record the date, time, place, facts, losses or injuries, suspect description, witnesses and available physical or digital evidence. Note the service, officer and date, request the local reference for the complaint, and obtain a medical constat for injuries. If a service refuses or delays registration, approach a superior service or the Procureur. Understand any document before signing and request interpretation or translation when needed. A suspected offence should be reported rather than answered with retaliation. Sexual and domestic violence may require immediate medical reception, examination, preservation of medico-legal evidence, safety planning and psychosocial or legal support. Police, Gendarmerie, health and social services, CEDAF, one-stop gender-based-violence centres and NGOs can form a referral network, but coverage, capacity, confidentiality and protection vary. Children facing abuse, exploitation, trafficking, child begging, child marriage or female genital mutilation should be referred to child-protection, health, social, police, gendarmerie or NGO services. A minor suspected of an offence follows juvenile safeguards and should not be handled through adult self-help. Digital crime includes phishing, account takeover, SIM or SMS diversion, mobile-money and payment fraud, impersonation, sextortion, romance scams and online harassment. Preserve URLs, account handles, timestamps, transaction identifiers, screenshots and exported messages instead of deleting them. Block the affected wallet or account, change passwords, activate two-factor authentication and contact the bank or mobile operator immediately. Report the criminal conduct to the Police or Gendarmerie; CLCN investigates electronic-network fraud, while CDP handles personal-data complaints and related rights without replacing a criminal report. Police and Gendarmerie emergency lines are free where stated. Senegal Services does not establish a standard complaint fee or deadline in the available guidance, while medical care, transport, documents, interpretation and legal assistance can create costs. Follow-up time depends on the case and service. There is no single nationwide integrated victim-support authority; formal and functional alternatives are distributed among the Police, Gendarmerie, Procureur, health and social services, CEDAF, one-stop centres and community or NGO referrals. Crime reporting and prevention concern safety and response; criminal-law definitions and sanctions, consumer remedies and disaster response belong to separate subject areas.