Burkina Faso has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with more than one in two girls married before the age of 18, and 10% married before age 15.
Plan International Burkina Faso works to protect children's rights in the country, including to eradicate child marriage.
Children’s rights in Burkina Faso
Promoting and protecting the rights of children, especially girls, has always been the primary goal of Plan International in Burkina Faso. Child marriage, especially for girls, remains a major challenge in Burkina Faso, particularly in the context of an unprecedented and difficult security and humanitarian crisis.
Today, there are 2.8 million married underage girls, of which 548,200 were married before the age of 15. Currently, the prevalence rate of child marriage among girls stands at 52%. This figure is higher than in many other countries.
This practice hinders girls’ personal development and prospects. It deprives them of their childhood, education, sexual and reproductive health rights, and exposes them to an increased risk of sexual violence within marriage, with both physical and psychological consequences.
The causes of child marriage, particularly for girls in our country, are multiple and similar to those in other West African countries. Key factors include family poverty, children’s lack of awareness of their rights, and the persistence of deep-rooted gender inequalities and norms.
Children’s experiences of violence in Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, children are vulnerable to various forms of violence, including sexual violence, due to their dependency and lack of power. They are sometimes victims of sexual exploitation, including forced prostitution, sex trafficking, and online exploitation.
Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds often have less access to essential resources such as education, healthcare, adequate nutrition, and safe housing, which can expose them to an increased risk of violence. Uneducated or undereducated children, as well as those living on the streets, are often more vulnerable to exploitation and violence.
Sexual violence is often underreported due to stigma, lack of access to healthcare services, and fear of reprisals. Additionally, poverty limits child protection services in certain regions of Burkina Faso.
Access to mental health services, psychosocial support, and legal assistance for child victims of violence is also limited, which can have long-term consequences on their emotional and psychological well-being and hinder their recovery and ability to report experiences of violence.
Strength in numbers
Burkina Faso has seen the emergence of community mobilization efforts and civil society organizations actively working to raise awareness about the consequences of child marriage and to end the practice.
For example, the National Coalition Against Child Marriage in Burkina Faso (CONAMEB), was established in 2013 is a network of national and international associations and NGOs (including Plan International Burkina Faso) working to end child marriage in the country. Its advocacy led to the adoption of a draft legislation on the Code of Persons and Family in Burkina Faso, which includes a major innovation: setting the legal marriage age at 18 for both sexes.
Although it will take time to reach our goal of ending child marriage, there has been some progress in cultural and social attitudes. The government is increasingly committed to combating child marriage and sexual violence against children through preventive measures, strengthening child protection systems, raising awareness of sexual violence, and promoting gender equality. The adoption of the draft legislation in the Ministerial Council is evidence of this strong government commitment, showing that progress can be made through the engagement of all stakeholders.
The way forward
Collaboration between the government, civil society, media, schools, families, and community leaders is crucial for developing and implementing policies aimed at preventing and eliminating gender-based violence and changing social attitudes against sexual violence and child marriage.
Furthermore, it is essential to educate children and adolescents about their rights and involve them in violence prevention and gender equality promotion efforts. The testimonies of survivors and victims of child marriage are important for raising public awareness and understanding, and can catalyze actions to end these practices.
In this regard, Plan International is engaged in several initiatives aimed at finding sustainable solutions to the issue, including working alongside other organizations to raise the legal marriage age to 18 for girls in Burkina Faso.
While challenges remain, global mobilization against child marriage offers reasons for hope that change is possible and that significant progress can be made in the fight against child marriage, ensuring a better and safer future for children in Burkina Faso and beyond.