by Jimmy Carter
First published 2014
Former President Jimmy Carter tackles what he considers the most serious human rights violation of our time: systematic discrimination and violence against women worldwide. Carter builds his case through personal observations from decades of humanitarian work, documenting how women face infanticide, forced servitude, child marriage, and genital cutting across cultures. He travels with Bill Gates Sr. through African brothels and joins Nelson Mandela to fight policies denying AIDS treatment to pregnant mothers in South Africa. Carter examines how religious texts from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim traditions get distorted to justify male dominance, noting that women often fare better in secular societies. Drawing on reports from Carter Center workers and women activists globally, he presents evidence of abuse affecting half the world's population. The book combines policy analysis with ground-level testimony to show how women remain "owned" by men in many societies while being denied equal opportunities even in wealthy nations. Carter offers readers an urgent examination of gender-based oppression backed by firsthand witness accounts.
Genres: gender-studies, politics, social-issues, religion, non-fiction, womens-rights, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: activism, humanitarian-work, policy-analysis, witness-accounts
Setting: Africa, South Africa
Period: Decades
211 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: abuse, sexism, violence