In the highly acclaimed bestselling A Call to Action, President Jimmy Carter addresses the world’s most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights: the ongoing discrimination and violence against women and girls.
President Carter was encouraged to write this book by a wide coalition of leaders of all faiths. His urgent report covers a system of discrimination that extends to every nation. Women are deprived of equal opportunity in wealthier nations and “owned” by men in others, forced to suffer servitude, child marriage, and genital cutting. The most vulnerable and their children are trapped in war and violence.
A Call to Action addresses the suffering inflicted upon women by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare. Key verses are often omitted or quoted out of context by male religious leaders to exalt the status of men and exclude women. And in nations that accept or even glorify violence, this perceived inequality becomes the basis for abuse.
Carter draws upon his own experiences and the testimony of courageous women from all regions and all major religions to demonstrate that women around the world, more than half of all human beings, are being denied equal rights. This is an informed and passionate charge about a devastating effect on economic prosperity and unconscionable human suffering. It affects us all.
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“Former U.S. president Carter here
responds to a pervasive denial of equal rights to women, which he believes
causes tangible harm to both sexes. He writes that many manifestations of
gender discrimination result from incorrect interpretations of religious texts
to justify a belief that men and boys are superior to women and girls. Carter
methodically identifies the many ways in which women suffer discrimination and
violence, providing specific examples from around the world…Many of the
narratives conclude with information about successful programs or dedicated
leaders who offer solutions to the problems described. Verdict: Women’s studies
scholars and readers interested in international human rights may find these
accounts of discrimination and abuse disturbing but should be challenged to
respond to Carter’s call for action.”
—
Library Journal