This paper explores whether women—as migrants or recipients of remittances—are able to accumulate physical and financial assets on par with men and, if not, the gendered constraints to this process. This question is important since ownership of assets is associated with women’s relative economic autonomy. Asset ownership strengthens a woman’s fall-back position—those resources that she commands should a marriage break-up (be it through separation, divorce or death of a spouse) that allow her to survive on her own. A woman who owns a dwelling, for example, is in a much stronger position to decide whether to leave an abusive relationship than one who does not have a secure place to live or from which to carry out income-generating activities. Women who own major assets may have greater choice in deciding whether to marry at all or whom to marry. The stronger a woman’s fall-back position, the greater her household bargaining power and thus her ability to negotiate outcomes that reflect her preferences and aspirations. Hence, it is posited that women’s ownership of assets increases their agency, a critically important component of the process of empowerment of women and of achieving gender equality.