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Seven Stories Press

Works of Radical Imagination

The Unfinished Revolution

Voices from the Global Fight for Women's Rights

by Minky Worden

Book cover for The Unfinished Revolution
Book cover for The Unfinished RevolutionBook cover for The Unfinished Revolution

Foreword by Christiane Amanpour

"Women's rights are human rights" became a rallying call for women's equality and freedom in a series of UN conferences in the 1990s, when prospects for women leading lives of dignity and equality finally seemed within reach. Since then, how far have women in the world progressed? In Africa, HIV/AIDS kills more women and girls than men and boys. In many countries, women are legally considered second-class citizens, and in others, religion, custom, and traditions—from "honor killings" to denial of property, labor and economic rights—block basic freedoms such as the right to work or study, and access to health care. Around the world, women and girls are trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery; rape is used as a weapon of war in conflict zones from the Congo to Kyrgyzstan, and women still face major obstacles to education and reproductive freedom.

The Unfinished Revolution is an anthology that outlines the recent history of legal and political battles to secure basic rights for women and girls. Edited by Minky Worden, writers from around the world tackle some of the toughest questions about improving the lives of women, and explain why we need fresh approaches in analyzing what works for the most vexing issues. Top policymakers, human rights experts, writers and artists with unique perspectives will address topics from violence against women to property rights to the role of international institutions. Perhaps most important, readers will hear from women who have been victims of human rights abuses and others who have fought such abuses, in their own voices.

Ending abuses of women and girls could change the game for human rights worldwide. This book sets out how and why we should act.

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Revolutionary Reads
Book cover for The Unfinished Revolution
Book cover for The Unfinished RevolutionBook cover for The Unfinished Revolution

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“This compilation of commissioned essays, anecdotes, and photos presents a powerful overview of contemporary women's issues—from the unsettlingly enormous backlogs of untested rape kits in Los Angeles, to genital mutilation and child marriage in Kurdistan and Afghanistan—and the ongoing fight for women's rights around the world. While sociologically and academically relevant, this is a cohesive and eminently readable document that is simultaneously an inspiration and a call-to-action.”

“Diverse voices of hopeless, hopeful, and boldly determined women from around the world comprise a compelling, multicultural resource.”

Minky Worden

As Human Rights Watch's Director of Global Initiatives, Minky Worden develops and implements international outreach and advocacy campaigns. Before joining Human Rights Watch in 1998, Ms. Worden worked in Hong Kong and in Washington, D.C. at the Department of Justice. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she is the editor of China's Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges and the co-editor of Torture: Does It Make Us Safer? Is It Ever OK?: A Human Rights Perspective. Worden lives in New York.