FROM THE MASSAGE PARLOUR TO THE PLAN BIZI: THE NEW FACES OF FEMALE PROSTITUTION IN OUAGADOUGOU IN THE DIGITAL AGE (BURKINA FASO)

Context: Social media, particularly virtual platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, have become, through new information and communication technologies, the foremost sites to which all manner of commercial activities have relocated. By reducing the world to a simple global village, these digital platforms enable their commercial users to reach a wide audience. It is within this headlong rush towards digitalisation that the phenomenon of prostitution has been transposed onto online platforms through the creation of WhatsApp groups, Telegram channels and Facebook pages, sometimes bearing names such as beauty or massage parlours. Objective: This transition warrants particular attention, and it is for this reason that the present article seeks to contribute to an understanding of this phenomenon in the city of Ouagadougou.