Burkina Faso presidential hopefuls urged to tackle early, forced marriage

London, United Kingdom: Burkina Faso's presidential candidates must commit to tackling forced and early marriage and improving access to contraception, sex education and health services for women and girls ahead of elections in October, a rights group said on Wednesday.

While gender equality is protected under the country's constitution and law, widespread forced and early marriage and unwanted pregnancies have reduced hundreds of thousands of girls and women to second-class citizens, Amnesty International said.