Resource Persons

Women’s Navigation of Gender Inequalities

 Child Marriage

Female Genital Mutilation

Polygamy

Women’s Struggle for Access & Rights
in the Public Sphere

Education

Leadership Positions

Ownership

Women Speak:

Natoma's Life Story

Gender Equality

Political & Legal System

The Gambian Life Stories Project was undertaken by the non-governmental women’s rights organization Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP). Founded in 1984, GAMCOTRAP focuses on sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girl children in the Gambia. The organization advocates for the elimination of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriage and gender-based violence. The Life Stories team consisted of six activists/researchers: Isatou Touray, Amie Bojang-Sissoho, Mary Small, Isatou Jeng, Sarjo Camara and Binta Bah.

The team focused on the manifestations of qiwamah and wilayah in various issues faced by Gambian women, such as sexual bodily rights, FGM, access to education, polygamy, political participation and leadership. They documented 13 life stories of Muslim women from the different administrative regions of the Gambia who engaged in grassroots activism and contributed to the empowerment of women.
 

Resource Persons*

 
Natoma (45 years old)
is a childless married woman. Born in Sankwia, Jarra West, she was deprived of education and had an arranged marriage at the age of 14. She divorced her first husband when he decided to marry the daughter of a family friend as his second wife. Although she left her first husband because of his polygamy, she later decided to enter into a polygamous marriage as the third wife, with specific conditions about her living arrangements. A farmer and women’s leader, she has led many struggles in her community, including protecting girls from deep rooted practices such as FGM.

Fama (50 years old)
is a married mother of 11 children. Born in Tumanna in the Upper River Region, she was deprived of education and had an early arranged marriage as a second wife. After the death of her husband, she was forced to marry her brother-inlaw as his last wife in order to safeguard her children’s interests. She has had to deal with being in polygamous relationships as well as providing for herself and her children. A farmer and businesswoman, Fama plays a leadership role in her community and is a representative of GAMCOTRAP in the region.

Maimuna (51 years old)
is a widow and mother of five children. Born in Basse Kabakama, she completed her education and attended a school of nursing where she trained as a midwife. Despite a physical disability, she took a leadership role in her family and her community. She provided for the extended family, controlled family land and was the first female Alkalo (village head) elected in the First Republic. After the death of her husband, she refused to remarry and worked as a nurse. She is now retired and continues to work on her farm.

Penda (52 years old)
is a widow and mother of five sons. Forced to marry an elderly man who was powerful in her village, she was subjected to violence by her co-wives. Her husband neglected her and she had to work and provide for her children. After the death of her husband, she remarried and divorced three times to men who were more interested in sexual relations than forming a marital partnership. Resource Persons Women’s Stories, Women’s Lives: Male Authority in Muslim Contexts 64 She now lives alone and works as a farmer. She has led her region in advocacy efforts to end FGM and currently works with various women’s rights organizations.

Anta (57 years old)
is a widow and mother of five children. She was among the few rural women of her generation who had the opportunity to get an education. She worked as a midwife. She is in a monogamous marriage, and was supported by her husband to enter partisan politics. For five years, she held the position of councillor in the local government structure in her region. Upon the death of her husband, she faced many challenges as a widowed woman and had to give up her political aspirations to provide for her household.

Sally (73 years old)
was a single mother who passed away in 2015. She was among the few rural women of her generation who had the opportunity to complete an education because her father was posted in Banjul with the Gambia Police Force and he was determined that his children should be educated. Divorced four times, she faced many hardships in her marriages and decided not to marry again. Despite her young age, she became the first female candidate elected to Parliament during the first regime and was nominated Minister of Health in the second Republic. She served as a head teacher and was also formerly a public relations officer at the Women’s Bureau.

Adu (59 years old)
is a married mother of two sons and two adopted daughters. Born to a Muslim family, she married a Christian man to avoid being in a polygamous marriage. Both she and her husband took part in opposition politics and were imprisoned for seven months by the State. Her husband is gender-sensitive and very supportive of her political activities. A journalist, politician, activist and trainer, she encourages women to engage in political participation through a nongovernmental organization she founded.

Kumba (57 years old)
is a single mother of two children. Born in Sukuta, Kombo North, she completed her education and became a successful businesswoman employed by a series of international companies. She was the second wife in her first marriage, and she faced harassment and violence from her co-wife. She eventually left this abusive marriage. When she remarried several years later, her second husband’s family mistreated her while her husband was working abroad, and her husband eventually abandoned her while she was pregnant. Left impoverished, she started to run her own business to provide for her family. Later, she began to campaign against FGM in her community.

Yama (78 years old)
is a widow and mother of one son and several adopted children. Born in Njawara, lower Raddihu District, she was deprived of education and entered into an arranged marriage at the age of 15. After her husband’s death, she took over leadership of the village and held the position of Alkalo. She helped raise awareness about the harm of the practice of FGM. She has adopted more than 30 children whom she describes as her own children.

Mariam (73 years old)
is a widow and mother of four children. Coming from a rural area, she was deprived of education. She married a poor Lebanese man against her parents’ will and had a strong egalitarian marriage with him, working hard on their farm to build their assets. After her husband’s death, she inherited all his property. She is a well-respected political figure who led the campaign against FGM in the Central River Region North. She also served as National Women’s Councillor under the Women’s Bureau promoting the socioeconomic and political rights of Gambian women and girls.

Binta (57 years old)
is a married mother of five children. She was born in Banjul to a gender-sensitive father who gave her the opportunity to further her education and saved her from early marriage. She was granted a scholarship to study overseas and worked for several foreign agencies and development organizations. She was married at the age of 19, and has a generally supportive husband and family-in-law. She is involved in voluntary work to advocate against child abuse.

Kaddy (32 years old)
is a married mother of two children. Born in Brikama, she completed her education and was trained in computer software. She is a second wife but lives in a separate dwelling from the first wife and provides for her household as well as for her younger siblings. She used to be a circumciser and an active supporter of FGM but her perception changed after she became engaged with GAMCOTRAP. She is now involved in leadership positions with women’s groups in her region.

Hawa (36 years old)
is a single mother of five children. Born in Brikama, she was deprived of education because her parents could not afford it. She was married at the age of 16 and her husband took advantage of her illiteracy by cheating her out of property. For years she worked hard to survive while her husband travelled. Upon his return, he married a second wife, divorced Hawa, and insisted she leave the house that had been funded by her loan but registered in his name. The judge did not support her case and said she must leave. She runs a small-scale business to make a living.
*Note that all of the resource persons’ names have been changed to protect their identities and that most of the quotations and stories have been translated, edited and condensed for clarity.
 

Women’s Navigation of Gender Inequalities

 
The Gambian research team documented life stories of women who still faced gender-based discrimination despite the state and civil society’s ongoing efforts to make the legal and judicial system gender-sensitive. The gap between formal equality and the lived realities on the ground demonstrate how gender biases and inequalities are deeply rooted in cultural traditions that threaten the bodily integrity and dignity of Gambian women. The 13 life stories give us a glimpse of the challenges navigated by Gambian women in the private sphere, such as child/forced marriage, FGM and polygamy. Religious arguments are often used to justify these practices and maintain patriarchal values and control over women.
 

Child Marriage

 
Although Gambian written laws protect girls from child betrothal and forced marriages, most of the resource persons married under the age of 18, which contravenes sections 24 and 25 of the Children’s Act (2005) and various international conventions. In rural Gambia, child marriage is a prevalent practice and more of a priority than the education of girls. For example, though Natoma was a brilliant pupil, she was denied the opportunity to continue her education because of an early arranged marriage. At the age of 14, she was betrothed to a relative and left the country to live in Spain.

Child marriage is considered normal or, at best, an accepted social norm. Many families marry their daughters off at an early age to avoid pregnancy outside marriage and thus disgrace and loss of face within the community. For instance, Yama was forced to marry her cousin at the age of 15. As a young girl, she was told that she was expected to marry soon and to take care of her husband and in-laws while taking on the responsibility of being a mother.
 

Female Genital Mutilation

 
Despite women’s groups’ strong advocacy work, the practice of female genital mutilation remains prevalent in the Gambia. According to UNICEF, 56% of Gambian girls under the age of 14 years underwent FGM between 2010 and 2015. All 13 resource persons experienced FGM. This traditional custom, which is used to establish control over the sexual behaviour of women, is often falsely associated with Islam. For instance, Sally experienced FGM at the age of eight and believed that as a good Muslim girl, she had to be circumcised and purified.

Through women’s groups’ endeavours to raise awareness about women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, the Gambian Parliament enacted a law that banned FGM in January 2016. Several of the resource persons were involved in GAMCOTRAP’s advocacy work to end the practice of FGM. For instance, at the age of seven, Kumba had a painful infection resulting from being cut. Threatened by the circumciser to be mutilated a second time, she could not complain to her parents and suffered in silence. In later life, she overcame this trauma by advocating against the practice of FGM in her community. Mariam was a well-known circumciser and promoter of FGM who later realized the harm of this practice. She led an anti-FGM campaign in the Janjanbureh as a result of which 30 circumcisers dropped their knives.
 

Polygamy

 
Since polygamy is a prevalent and justified practice in Gambian society, most of the resource persons did not have a viable option to refuse polygamous marriages. Polygamy is often considered to be a religious right of men and is justified by some Qur’anic interpretations and men’s claim to qiwamah. Most interpretations require that a husband must earn enough money to support all of his wives. Yet, as illustrated in the Gambian life stories, often the husbands did not support their wives and the latter had to provide for themselves and their children. At an early age, Penda was forced into a polygamous relationship as the fourth wife of an elderly man who had no sons from his other wives. Penda was forced to live with her co-wives who abused her because they were jealous that she gave birth to boys. She lost her first son, and she believes he was poisoned by one of her co-wives.

Some women managed to negotiate ways to protect themselves from the negative workings of polygamy. Natoma rejected polygamy in her first marriage when family friends who once supported her as a young bride suggested their daughter become her husband’s second wife. In her second marriage, she chose to become the third wife of an influential chief but laid out conditions so she could remain independent, economically secure and emotionally content. One condition was that she would live in a separate compound from her cowives, which is rare in rural Gambia. In a rare example, Adu drew lessons from the bitter experience of the polygamous marriage of her father. She felt that because the practice was so embedded in Muslim society in the Gambia, the best way to guarantee a monogamous marriage was to marry a Christian man.
 

Women’s Struggle for Access & Rights in the Public Sphere

 
Despite the Government’s emphasis on women’s fundamental rights to education, employment and political participation, women’s access to the public sphere in the Gambia remains restricted. This was highlighted by the resource persons’ difficult access to schooling, ownership of resources and leadership positions.
 

Education

 
As young children, several of the resource persons were denied education because they were tasked with household chores, subjected to early marriage or expected to conform to a traditional model of gender roles. For instance, Hawa went to a madrassa for a short time but was not educated further because her family could not afford it. Instead, as the first child she took responsibility for household chores—cleaning the compound, washing dishes, cooking and helping her mother on the farm. Her illiteracy cost her dearly when her husband of many years cheated her out of property she had bought with a loan in her name by putting the documents in his own name.

At the same time, some of the women who were deprived of education were able to find other routes to success. Mariam’s grandfather denied her the opportunity to get an education but she worked diligently on agricultural endeavours and capitalized on her success by supporting politicians behind the scenes. Adu went through primary and secondary schooling but she could not continue her tertiary education because her parents could not afford it. However, she never gave up and started to write for a newspaper. Later, she became actively involved in girls’ education and adopted an orphan girl. Adu paid for her adopted daughter’s secondary and tertiary education and she is now working as an accounting clerk.

Sally and Binta were among the few Gambian resource persons who had the opportunity to further their education, which later opened the doors to their economic and political empowerment. For instance, Sally’s father believed that his children’s education would enhance the family’s well-being. Sally had the chance to pursue her education both because of his support and because he was a member of the Gambia Police Force posted in Banjul. She studied first as a nurse and then as a teacher and worked her way through various positions and schools to become the main breadwinner in her extended family. Later in life, she entered into politics and became the first woman elected to the Gambian Parliament.

In contrast, Binta had to struggle and to navigate gender inequalities in order to get an education. She was denied a scholarship to complete high school because of her gender and her rural background but her father managed to pay for her schooling. She recalled how the male pupils would provoke her and tease her about her handwriting, though she managed to beat them in marks. As she advanced in her education, there were fewer and fewer girls.Because of her hard work, she was able to further her studies in the United States and return to the Gambia to work with international agencies and NGOs on development issues.
 

Leadership Positions

 
The life stories documented by the Gambian research team show ways in which women could demonstrate their leadership capacities. Several resource persons held various leadership positions, especially among their female peers. Although sometimes accepted as community leaders of both women and men, women faced more challenges in mixed communities because of patriarchal resistance and the burden of navigating gender-based discrimination on a day-to-day basis. For instance, Natoma overcame the barriers of education and polygamy by reaching several leadership positions at the regional and national levels. Awarded the Medal of the Order of the Republic of the Gambia, she led several community-based organizations in her region. However her illiteracy in English and her gender became obstacles when it came to her pursuing a seat in Parliament. According to Natoma, she was denied the opportunity to take a seat because she was illiterate in English while several of her male peers were able to serve in Parliament even though they were equally illiterate.

Anta was among the few rural women of her generation to receive an education, be in a monogamous marriage and hold leadership positions. Despite the harassment by some male and female members of her own political party, she won the position of councillor in the local government structure of her region.
Sally became the first woman elected to the Gambian Parliament despite her young age and her status as a divorcee. She defied the social expectation that marriage should be a priority for women. Sally made the struggle for empowerment of rural women a key priority in her political agenda. Through her political career, she won greater independence and proved that women could travel alone without a male guardian, provide for the household and be the head of the family.
 

Ownership

 
Although there is no written legal provision to prevent women from holding property and owning land, cultural norms and practices curtail their access to ownership. The Gambian research team documented life stories of women who were allowed to use and sometimes control landed property but could not own it even through inheritance. For instance, Natoma had access and control over all of her late father’s landed properties but, unlike her brother, never held ownership rights. Furthermore, she had access to the use of her husband’s farmland but did not own it.

Most of the time, land ownership is based on a community tenure system, which translates into the land being under male control. Women are not given the right to inherit land because the property would be lost through their marriages. Therefore, they are only entitled to make use of it. Furthermore, while Gambian law guarantees a widow’s right to inherit the landed property of her late husband, this right is often accompanied by the custom of levirate. Widows are expected to marry one of their late husband’s relatives in order to safeguard the familial property. For instance, when her husband died, Fama and her nine children were ‘inherited’ by his brother. Soon after she completed the mourning period, her brother-in-law asked for her hand in marriage. Despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to accept his proposal or risk losing her inheritance rights. She is now living in her late husband’s house and is working as a farmer to provide for herself and her children.
 
 

Gender Equality

Although the Gambia has ratified all of the international conventions and protocols that promote women’s rights, women still face discrimination in accessing basic rights in the public and private spheres, injustices that are fostered by patriarchal religious, cultural and traditional norms. Despite the Government’s gender-responsive policies, women’s empowerment is still challenged by low literacy levels, a higher incidence of poverty, gender-based violence and limited influence over the decision-making process.
 
While some progress has been made in women’s access to primary education, with a female enrolment rate of 71% compared to 66% for men (WEF, 2015), gender inequality persists in secondary and tertiary education, where men make up 71% of all enrolments. As a result, the female literacy rate remains considerably lower than that of males, which makes women more vulnerable to poverty. The Gambia is one of the poorest countries in Africa, ranking 175th out of 188 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2014). Income poverty is concentrated in rural areas, where women comprise the majority of the working population, accounting for more than half of the agricultural labour force and representing 70% of unskilled labourers (IFAD, 2013).
 
Furthermore, women have little influence in health-related decisions and face multiple risks, as is apparent from the high maternal mortality rate due to the lack of prenatal care and women’s heavy workloads, the difficult access to contraception and reproductive health services, and the practice of FGM. Gambian women are also still underrepresented in politics both at the national and local levels. In 2015, women made up only 9% of Members of Parliament and 21% of ministerial positions in the Gambia.