VZCZCXRO3846
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOU #0582 2031655
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221655Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5227
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 000582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM ELAB SOCI PGOV UV
SUBJECT: Will Ouagadougou's Brothels Really Be Shut Down? 
 
REF: OUAGADOUGOU 0504 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Since January 2008, the mayor of Ouagadougou has 
worked to close down all brothel houses in the capital.  While some 
houses have been converted into rental property, and others 
destroyed, many brothels are still open for business.  In March 
2009, after a twelve month grace period, the mayor once again 
cracked down on the brothels leading employees of these 
establishments to write an open letter to President Compaore 
appealing the decision, claiming it would drive them out of a job. 
Closing down the brothels they argue, would spell financial ruin for 
the families who legally derive income from their work, but would 
also impact city development by decreasing taxation revenues. END 
SUMMARY. 
More than a 1,500 brothel sex workers in Ouagadougou. 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶2.  (SBU) According to Mr. Zakaria Drabo's (union representative of 
the brothel industry employees) open letter to Compaore, Ouagadougou 
has about one hundred " rooms " ("Chambres de passes"), each 
employing about fifteen people, totaling more than 1,500 employees 
in the sex industry.  He said that each of these employees' income 
supports an extended family network, and pays for school fees for 
their children.  (Note: The sex workers are not only Burkinabe, but 
also Nigerian, Ghanaian, Beninese and Togolese. End Note.)  The 
trade union reminds Compaore that every country in the world has 
brothels, and that allowing the Mayor to close those in Ouagadougou 
would only lead to poverty for those 1,500 income dependent 
families, and the 15,000 people they support.  The trade union 
argues that it is "better to die, than to lose one's job, again." 
Brothel work is already a step down from the jobs they once had and 
lost as a result of a depressed economy, losing this job, they say, 
would be the final straw and spell financial ruin.  The hundred or 
so sex "rooms" are sub-leased by the owners to pimps, who in turn 
sub-lease them to prostitutes or hire prostitutes themselves to work 
in them. The frequenters of brothels are men of all socio-economic 
categories, who pay, dependent on use of condom or not, between 4 
USD and 30 USD for sex. Local NGOs estimate that each room probably 
receives an average of eight clients a night. NGO's reported that 
some girls as young as fourteen are employed in these brothels. 
Tax the owners and generate income for the State 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶3.  (SBU) The trade union suggests that rather than closing brothels 
down and forcing people to the streets to work, the alternative 
could save their jobs while being beneficial to the State.  The 
suggestion is that by taxing each brothel room owner about 500 USD a 
month, the State could collect about 600,000 USD in revenue per year 
in Ouagadougou alone.  He suggests that this income could be used to 
ameliorate university infrastructure by building a new amphitheatre, 
could be used to improve living conditions at the city dilapidated 
MACO city jail, or could help pay for medication at the hospital. 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Under Burkinabe law "simple" or voluntary 
prostitution is not illegal.  Pimping of prostitutes and active 
solicitation of clients is illegal (Article 427) and using private 
property for economic gains without prior consent by the local 
administration is also illegal (Articles 158, 226, 227, 228 of 
Property and Agrarian Reform.)  The interdiction of brothel houses 
in Ouagadougou is based on the fact that these houses were not 
officially declared and authorized for this type of work, hence in 
violation of Article 158. 
¶5.  (SBU) NGO's who work closely with the sex workers told us that 
the "real", yet unpublicized aim of the Mayor of Ouagadougou is to 
close the brothels in order to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS and 
sexually transmitted diseases and to fight trafficking in persons by 
limiting the outlet for women forced into prostitution.  As noted in 
reftel, the Mayor also wants to combat child prostitution by closing 
down the city brothels.  In addition, the Mayor has sought to shut 
down brothels that are next to schools and places of worship, and 
has targeted the brothels that did not pass minimum health 
standards.  We doubt that the union's open letter will persuade the 
Mayor to change his plans, but is probably a good indication of how 
difficult it will be to curb the sex trade in Ouagadougou. END 
COMMENT. 
 
 
LAEUCHLI