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date: 17 February 2025

Women in Burkina Fasolocked

Women in Burkina Fasolocked

  • Muriel Gomez-PerezMuriel Gomez-PerezDepartment of Historical Sciences, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada
  • , and Bertin YameogoBertin YameogoDepartment of Historical Sciences, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada

Summary

The women of Burkina Faso face a highly complex situation. Nationally and locally, men continue to dominate political life, despite the emergence of protective female figures during the precolonial period, the public role played by a handful of female leaders since the 19th century, and the adoption of gender quota legislation on January 22, 2020. Meanwhile, women’s social and economic progress remains precarious, with major disparities persisting between rural and urban areas and between poorer and wealthier households. For instance, although access to education has expanded since the late 1980s, widespread school closures instituted since 2016 in response to jihadist attacks have prevented countless girls from pursuing their studies. Marriage continues to constitute a key social institution to the point of becoming a source of intense competition between women since the economic crisis of the 1990s. Although rates of female genital mutilation remain significant, they have fallen considerably since the turn of the 21st century. As for family decisions regarding women’s access to and management of land, they continue to reflect a rigidly patriarchal outlook. Although the role of women in migration tends to be overlooked in favor of a decidedly male focus, they have nevertheless represented a central component of internal migratory flows since the early 20th century. Since the 1990s, they have displayed growing autonomy in the labor market, alongside flexibility in matters of agricultural production and land management. Finally, Burkinabe women have found subtle ways of taking their place within different religious traditions. Starting in the 1950s within Catholic missionary orders and especially in the 1990s within the Muslim community and the Assemblies of God, women of various ages have even gained prominence and, in some cases, emerged as opinion leaders.

Subjects

  • Women’s History

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