Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

It continues to impress me the types of books RAs note as their favorite read.  Clearly this one was a favorite because of how it probably taught the reader about the terrible abuse of women worldwide and motivated the reader to think they should do something.  The topic itself is pretty depressing, the oppression of women worldwide.  The book is called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by authors Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn.  The married couple travel around the world to provide individual profiles of women and their plight within their given society, South Africa (Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan), Asia (China, Cambodia, Middle East), and in Europe (Netherlands) to name a few.  The authors present real life human rights violations against women in an attempt to raise awareness and get more people to become active in supporting their movement.  They highlight many women who have fallen prey to drug dealers, sex slavery/trafficking and genital mutilation, rape/beatings, and other travesties.  While the issues are presented through real life people, there are also many success stories illustrated as a way to show there is hope.  Additionally, the authors profile non-profit organizations that have been created to help address these violations vs. women.  A significant amount of violence data and finally what we can do to help make change, by either donating money or time to change the outcomes in people’s lives.  The book highlights these important issues and an insight as to how the US has/hasn’t been helpful based on “who” is in office.  Hard to read much of the book and the detailing of the abuse.  There are success stories in which the survivors have been able to escape the abuse.  An important story to be told, not sure I would make this the one book I bring on an island if I could only read one, but appreciate the information and ways to support the fight for women.