In Burkina Faso, the Shame of Unwed Motherhood Never Leaves
March 6, 2017
Young single mothers in Burkina Faso, a West African nation, feel cursed because of the shame they feel they have brought to their families, who want little to do with them. NABILA EL HADAD
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — A white van roams the streets of the capital here every Wednesday morning to help young women and girls who may be homeless or destitute to take them to a health clinic on the outskirts of the city.
There, a small team tries to help the clients, who may be single mothers or prostitutes or both, overcome any sense of victimization they might experience by society. The team also offers essential services in a country where government services remain practically absent as it recovers from a people’s revolt against its longtime autocratic leader, Blaise Compaoré. (Compaoré has been exiled to the Ivory Coast, and a new government was democratically elected in 2015.)
In sandy, dusty Ouagadougou, located in the center of this landlocked country in West Africa, stigmatization is an active form of abuse carried out against young single mothers or prostitutes, which is why the clinic was launched by Keogo, a local association, or charity. The abuse extends to the very place women and girls may seek safety, comfort and medical attention: in hospitals.
Keogo’s program to assist vulnerable women and girls was born in 2012, offering medical care as part of its services. Lassina Zampou, the president of Keogo, said the clinic enabled its clients to avoid hurtful “judgments from medical staff” in hospitals, where young female patients who are alone or not well dressed are subject to discrimination. Last year, around 1,300 women and girls attended the Keogo clinic.
