Hortense Lougué is a Woman Human Rights Defender and the Executive Director of the Association of Support and Awakening Pugsada (ADEP), a non-governmental organisation that focuses on improving the legal, and socio-economic status of women and girls in Burkina Faso. She works extensively with young girls and women who have been forced into marriage, are victims of gender violence or have suffered female genital mutilation. Having been a volunteer in the , she became the coordinator and chief executive when the founder took over international duties in 2008. Her drive to do this originated from her experience of inequality and injustice.