Women's empowerment through the eyes of a Gambian man

During my time at CARE, I was constantly hearing about how income-generating activities empower women. While I accepted it in concept, I never really understood why or how that is the case, and to be honest, I'm not sure I ever 100% bought that a woman bringing in money could have a significant impact on the power dynamics in male-female relationships in male-dominated cultures. However, yesterday I had a fascinating conversation with one of my favorite Peace Corps drivers (a jovial middle-aged Gambian man who most likely dropped out of school before high school and probably has never even heard the term "women's empowerment") that finally convinced me beyond the shadow of a doubt.

The driver was talking about how he had put his niece through school (it's very common for anyone with a regular salary to be expected to support their entire extended family with things like paying school fees, buying bags of rice, etc), and now that she had finished Grade 12, he was using his personal connections to get her a job at a government agency. Why, I asked? To keep her from getting pregnant before she got married. Certainly not the answer I was expecting. So how does that work? He matter-of-factly explained that a young woman with a good job achieves a level of respect from men that a young woman without a good job could never hope for. This gives her significantly more control over her sexual and reproductive destiny than she would have otherwise, preventing unwanted pregnancies.

The lessons you learn in the most unexpected places here...