It is only recently, at age 36, that Saoudé Garba has felt in charge of her own life. Born in the village of Danje in southern Niger, she was married early to one of the three chiefs of the village. She had her first child at the age of 15, followed by eight more, without any medical assistance during her pregnancies and childbirth. As is tradition in her village, her life consisted of cooking, cleaning and doing household chores.

Saoudé was financially dependent on her husband and rarely attended decision-making meetings in their village. When she did, she and other women were not allowed to speak. Social traditions of the village had always dictated that women obey their husbands and the men in power, and no one could conceive of it any other way. Saoudé and the other women in her village were not aware that they had rights, let alone that they could exercise them to improve their lives.