Date of publication:

01/08/2026

United Republic of Tanzania (the)

Do domestic laws and policies protect forcibly displaced and stateless persons from harm and discrimination on the basis of their ethnic, religious, political, sexual or gender identity or orientation?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Tanzania is a diverse nation with numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities. The country's legal system, rooted in the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms to all citizens, irrespective of their backgrounds. Specific laws, such as the Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act (SOSPA) of 1998, address issues related to sexual violence and exploitation. Additionally, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008 criminalizes human trafficking and provides protective measures for victims. Despite these legal provisions, certain minority groups continue to face challenges, including societal discrimination and inadequate protection against violence and exploitation.​

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania

    Legal provision

    Article 12.1 - Equality of human beings

    All human beings are born free, and are all equal.

    Article 12.2 - Equality of Human Beings

    Every person is entitled to recognition and respect for his dignity.

    Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act (SOSPA)

    Legal provision

    Section 5.1 - Amendment of the Penal Code

    The Penal Code is amended by adding immediately after section 130 the following new sections: 130A. (1) Any person who, being responsible for the care of a child, sexually abuses the child commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty years with corporal punishment, and shall also be ordered to pay compensation of an amount determined by the court to the victim for the injuries caused."

    The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act

    Legal provision

    Section 18.1 - Protection and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking

    The Minister shall, in consultation with the Minister responsible for social welfare services, put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure the provision of basic material support, appropriate housing, counseling and information, medical, psychological and legal assistance to victims of trafficking in persons.

    Section 4.1 - Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons

    A person commits an offence of trafficking in person if that person - (a) recruits, transports, transfers, harbors, provides or receives a person by any means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment, training or apprenticeship, for the( of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labour; slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage; (b) introduces or matches a person to a foreign national for marriage for the of acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading the person in order that person be engaged in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage; (c) offers or contracts marriage, real or simulated, for the purpose of acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading a person in order that person be engaged in prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labour or slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage; (d) undertakes or organizes sex tourism or sexual exploitation; (e) maintains or hires a person to engage in prostitution or pornography; (0 adopts or facilitates the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexua lexploitation, forced-labour and slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage; (g) recruits, hires, adopts, transports or abducts - (i) a person, by means of threat or use of force, fraud, deceit, violence ,coercion or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of organs of the person; or a child or a disabled person for the purposes of engaging the child or the disabled person in armed activities.