The Gospel Coalition

It is difficult to think about the abuses faced by women around the world and to still believe, as do so many, that human beings are somehow, somewhere, innately good. The evidence would so clearly seem to point in the other direction–that there is something very seriously wrong with mankind. This pessimistic but realistic viewpoint was confirmed as I read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn travel the world heaping up evidence of the abuses against women and proposing ways forward. The authors focus on three particular abuses: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence such as honor killings and systemic mass rape; and maternal mortality. This takes them across the globe, but primarily to Africa and to East Asia. They pause briefly elsewhere (such as in Sweden and Holland to compare the effectiveness of legislation outlawing versus legalizing prostitution) but primarily focus on women in the developing world.

The format of the book is remarkably effective. The authors first discuss an issue, often by relating the stories of a couple of women they have met in their travels, and then provide a lengthy account or case study on that same topic. This combination nicely mixes the theoretical with the practical. It is one thing to hear about the mass rapes in Rwanda but another entirely to come face-to-face with a survivor and to hear how she has sought to live life in the aftermath. The stories are always poignant, touching and, more often than not, horrifying.

One thing that impressed me about this book was that, while it was written about women, it did not ever fall into outright feminism. There were a few times where I had flashbacks to my college days and expected the authors to provide some old feminist argument or rationale, but always they allowed reason to prevail. So, for example, when showing how women around the world are subjugated by men, they point out, rightly, that women also subjugate women. After all, it is often the madams who imprison young girls and force them into prostitution. So we see that the oppression of women is not a problem with men, but a problem with all humans. The authors’ prove in this that their interest truly is for the welfare of women, not for the downfall of men (a rather important distinction, I think).

Time and time again the authors return to the importance of education as a solution to the oppression of women. Education is key. Educate women and they become useful to society in more ways than simply birthing children and satisfying the sexual needs of men. And certainly I would not wish to downplay the importance of education. Some may (and undoubtedly will) scoff at me for this, but I truly believe that the Christian faith offers women their greatest hope and freedom–even more so than education. I can say this with confidence because I believe what the Bible says–that God created the world, including both men and women, and that he has told us there how men and women are to relate to one another. When the Christian faith is lived out in accordance to Scripture, women find tremendous freedom to be who God has created them to be.

Only the Christian faith affirms the value and equality of women. When the Christian faith is ignored in favor of some kind of legalistic morality only loosely based on the Bible, women inevitably suffer. And this is the case with any other religion I can think of: it is always the women who suffer first and who suffer worst. Just look to Islam or Hinduism or any other faith and you will see how women are subjugated. The authors here do dedicate a chapter to Islam and seek to answer the question, Is Islam Misogynistic? They fight hard to say “no, not according to the Koran” but it is difficult to really believe their conclusion with so much evidence stacked against them. It is God, through the Bible, who offers women their greatest hope.

It almost seems wrong to say that I enjoyed reading this book. Full as it is of stories of the suffering of women, it is painful and often infuriating. Many of the stories are brutal and hard to read–stories of rape and trafficking and forced prostitution and every other form of utter, abject humiliation and degradation. Yet these accounts simply represent the harsh reality of so many of the world’s girls and women. Hard though they are to read, the alternative, ignoring them, is surely no better.

My concern with Half the Sky is that many of the organizations the authors recommend would undoubtedly be ones towards which Christians would want to be very cautious. While they may be doing lots of good work, they may also be involving themselves in activities that Christians would not want to support. Therefore it is wise to be cautious and to seek out organizations that are truly worth supporting. The authors are clear that Christian organizations are doing a world of good in developing nations so there are many to choose from. Let us hope that these organizations can prove to the world that it is only God who offers true hope to overcome oppression.

Verdict: Buy it