Eradicating female genital cutting: implications from political efforts in Burkina Faso

Applying a difference-in-differences approach to the historical ethnic homelands partitioned between Burkina Faso and Mali, I find that Burkina Faso’s political efforts to eradicate female genital cutting have reduced this practice overall and its moderate forms in particular, though the effect was weaker when it was performed by traditional cutters or on younger girls. The overall decline was smaller near the national border prone to fatal violence in its neighboring countries, which conversely suggests that the absence of internal conflict in Burkina Faso might have increased the credibility of the government’s political commitment. The overall decline, though only suggestive, might also have resulted from changes in people’s preference. Consistently, at present, Burkinabé people belonging to all birth cohorts have a much stronger aversion to this practice, in spite of the remarkable similarity in cutting rates between the two countries among those who were born prior to Burkina Faso’s political efforts.