Research Guides: Women's History Month 2021: Women's Rights Across the World

Recommended Reading List

There are still many countries in which women's rights are unrecognized or contested. Read these ebooks to learn more.

Voice and Agency by Jeni Klugman; World Bank Staff (Contribution by); Lucia Hanmer; Tazeen Hasan; Jennifer McCleary-Sills; Julieth Santamaria; Sarah Twigg
ISBN: 9781464803598
Publication Date: 2014
Despite recent advances in important aspects of the lives of girls and women, pervasive challenges remain. These challenges reflect widespread deprivations and constraints and include epidemic levels of gender-based violence and discriminatory laws and norms that prevent women from owning property, being educated, and making meaningful decisions about their own lives--such as whether and when to marry or have children.
Women Lead the Way by Linda Tarr-Whelan
Call Number: available online
Publication Date: 2009
Despite enormous gains made in the past decades, women continue to be woefully underrepresented in positions of power. This is a loss for everyone-important priorities are overlooked and organizations miss out on the range of talent and fresh insights that women can offer.
Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa by Freedom House Staff; Sanja Kelly (Editor); Julia Breslin (Editor)
Call Number: available online
Publication Date: 2010
Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for women's rights since the first edition was released in 2005.
Opening Doors: The Untold Story of Cornelia Sorabji by Richard Sorabji
Clever, attractive and ambitious, intellectually daring and physically courageous, Cornelia Sorabji was a truly remarkable woman. As India's first female lawyer, she was original and often outspoken in her views - for example, in her criticism of Gandhi and her surprising friendship with Katherine Mayo. Cornelia Sorabji resists easy classification, either as a feminist or as an imperialist.
Women and Politics Around the World by Joyce Gelb (Editor); Marian Lief Palley (Editor)
Call Number: available online
Publication Date: 2009
A unique two-volume examination of the progress women have made in achieving political equality, Women and Politics around the World addresses both transnational and gender-related issues as well as specific conditions in more than 20 countries.
From Cape Town to Kabul by Penelope Andrews
Call Number: available online
Publication Date: 2012
Using her experience of living under apartheid and witnessing its downfall and the subsequent creation of new governments in South Africa, the author examines and compares gender inequality in societies undergoing political and economic transformation.
The Persistence of Gender Inequality by Mary Evans
Call Number: available online
Publication Date: 2016
Despite centuries of campaigning, women still earn less and have less power than men. Equality remains a goal not yet reached. In this incisive account of why this is the case, Mary Evans argues that optimistic narratives of progress and emancipation have served to obscure long-term structural inequalities between women and men, structural inequalities which are not only about gender but also about general social inequality.

More Resources to Explore

There are many resources to discover about women's rights around the world. Below are a few to consider.

Visualizing the data: Women’s representation in society
"Women’s full and equal participation in all facets of society is a fundamental human right. Yet, around the world, from politics to entertainment to the workplace, women and girls are largely underrepresented.
The visualizations... take a closer look at this gender-imbalanced picture over time, revealing just how slow progress is" -.From UN Women
BBC Woman's Hour Podcast
"Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire." Daily news podcast from around the world.
A Radical Women's Rights and Peace Activist: Margarethe Lenore Selenka, Initiator of the First Worldwide Women's Peace Demonstration in 1899
By Katzel, Ute; Journal of Women's History, vol. 13, no. 3, 2001, pp. 46-69.
Encyclopedia Womannica
"Thinking back to our history classes growing up, we had one question: Where the ladies at? Enter, Encyclopedia Womannica. In just 5 minutes a day, learn about different incredible women from throughout history. In Wonder Media Network’s brand new podcast, we’re telling the stories of women you may or may not know -- but definitely should."
#MeToo is at a crossroads in America. Around the world, it’s just beginning.
"...#MeToo has evolved into a global movement, generating new or spinoff hashtags in many languages. It has impacted countries around the world — and has also been transformed by them. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, activism on women’s rights and gender-based violence has not ceased. If anything, in some cases, it has gained new urgency online.
So what does #MeToo look like around the world? We asked writers and illustrators from eight countries this question. Here are their answers."