Background: The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is common in several African countries and some parts of
Asia. This practice is not only a violation of human rights, but also puts women at risk of adverse health outcomes. This
paper analysed the trends in the prevalence of FGM in Burkina Faso and investigated factors that are associated with this
practice following the enactment of an FGM law in 1996.
Methods: The study used the Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data sets from women aged 15 to
49 years undertaken in 1999, 2003 and 2010. Chi square tests were carried out to investigate whether there has been a
change in the levels of FGM in Burkina Faso between 1999 and 2010 and multilevel logistic regression analysis were
employed to identify factors that were significantly associated with undergoing FGM.
Results: The levels of FGM in Burkina Faso declined significantly from 83.6% in 1999 to 76.1% in 2010. The percentage
of women circumcised between the ages of 0 to 5 years increased from 34.2% in 1999 to 69% in 2010. Significantly more
women in 2010 than in 1999 were of the opinion that FGM should stop (90.6% versus 75.1%, respectively). In 2010, the
odds of getting circumcised were lowest amongst women that were born in the period 1990 to 1995 (immediately
before the FGM law was enacted) compared to women born in the period 1960-1965 [OR 0.16 (0.13,0.20)]. There was
significant variation of FGM across communities. Other factors that were significantly associated with being circumcised
were education level, religion, ethnicity, urban residence and age at marriage.
Conclusions: Although the prevalence of FGM has declined in Burkina Faso, the levels are still high. In order to tackle
the practice of FGM in Burkina Faso, the government of Burkina Faso and its development partners need to encourage
girls’ participation in education and target its sensitization campaigns against FGM towards Muslim women, women
residing in rural areas and women of Mossi ethnic background.