Review by Choice Review
Violence against women--including not only domestic violence and rape, but also forced prostitution, child marriage, "honor" killings, and female infanticide--is a virtually universal human phenomenon. This "feminist analysis" of the problem, oriented to the international development community, views gender-based violence as an abrogation of human rights and a major stumbling block to sustainable development. A voluminous literature on women in development exists, and despite the assertion that gender-based violence has only recently been recognized as a development issue, the subject has been repeatedly addressed (e.g., Dorothy Counts et al., Sanctions and Sanctuary: Cultural Perspectives on the Beating of Wives, 1992; Kate Conway-Turner and Suzanne Cherrin, Women, Families, and Feminist Politics, CH, May'99), although never so thoroughly. Because the problem is deeply embedded in the social institutions of patriarchal societies, there are no simple solutions, but the authors explores the possibilities, such as providing support services to women, promoting legal reforms, directly challenging the behavior of violent men, and changing popular perceptions through public education. There is a certain amount of preaching to the choir here, but this is as clear and comprehensive a treatment of its subject as exists in the development literature. For development professionals. M. A. Gwynne SUNY at Stony Brook
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
