Senegal

Marriage, Cultural Norms, and Fertility

More than 60 percent of women are in monogamous unions, with polygamy higher in rural areas. About half of first marriages end in divorce; 18 percent of households are female headed.

European and Islamic customs mix with Wolof customs. Marriage and childbirth are traditional social and religious duties. Most Christians and Muslims combine religious and indigenous spiritual beliefs. In some communities, female genital cutting is considered a rite of passage that makes girls fertile. The Family Code, while based on the French model, incorporates principles of the Malekite school of Sunni Islam and Islamic legal code (sharia).

School attendance drops from 75 percent in primary school to 11 percent in secondary school. Fewer girls than boys attend at all levels. This is significant, as contraceptive use increases with education; fewer than 15 percent of women use modern birth control. Young urban women prefer condoms, while older urban women use the birth control pill, intrauterine devices (IUDs), or injections. Contraceptive laws were liberalized in 1980. Most health providers offer free birth control, but women must pay for the examination. Abortion is illegal except in rare circumstances. To induce abortion, women may overdose on pharmaceuticals, use traditional remedies of roots and barks, or insert sharp wires or chemicals.

Less than half of women have regular prenatal care and skilled birth attendants. Maternal mortality is very high. Principles of the 1988 Population Policy Declaration include decreasing fertility and preventing mortality. The National Reproductive Health [Page 1111]Program (1997–2001) objectives include increasing the rate of quality prenatal care, assisted childbirth, and contraceptive prevalence, and reducing the rates of abortion, female genital mutilation, and early and/or unwanted pregnancy in young women and adolescents. A 2000 law forbids female genital cutting. Well-known mothers in Senegal include Maam Diarra Bousso, the mother of Mouride spiritual leader Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, who is often considered Senegal's most important national hero. Mariama Bâ, mother of nine children and author of Une si longue lettre (Such a Long Letter, 1980), addressed polygamy and female genital mutilation.

African women, like this Senegal mother, marry much younger than non-African women, leading to earlier pregnancies.