Review of Sue Lloyd-Roberts' "The War on Women": A Tribute to Women's Struggles

In her posthumous work, The War on Women, former BBC journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts tells the stories of women from all over the world, their struggles, their keyboards and sometimes their justices.

attention!

This book is intended for an informed audience, as it tells in detail some crimes committed against women and may offend the sensibilities of some people.

Thematic

Travelling the globe, from Latin America to Far Asia, Sue Lloyd-Roberts shows the dark and cruel side of human nature through portraits of women. The War on Women deals with the themes of female genital mutilation in Africa and Europe, the Sex Trafficking of women in Russia, honor killings, executions of "subversive" women and kidnappings of their newborns (the desparecidos, the disappeared) in Argentina during the "dirty war" from 1976 to 1983, rapes committed by peacekeepers on mission, rape and trafficking in women during the Bosnian war, and finally forced marriages and the hypocrisy of religious or legal bodies that more or less openly supported these horrors. Through anecdotes and excerpts from interviews, the journalist highlights and questions the impotence or implicit collaboration of religious and legal authorities in some countries vis-à-vis the abuse inflicted on women. She also questions the importance of the need to respect traditions, a need that drives people to have their daughters circumcised or forced to marry against their will. Lloyd-Roberts often explains that during his hundreds of interviews with representatives of local, national, religious or UN authorities, the men confronted with his questions doubted or despised his credibility as a journalist. Readers are left with rage in their stomachs as they read the moving testimonies of these brave women and anecdotes from this journalist who traveled around the world to gather this valuable information.

Photos

At the center of the book, readers will discover photos of the journalist in order to give a face to the angry voice and pay tribute to her. There are also photos of the people she interviewed or pictures taken during political demonstrations. These photos serve to give readers context to accompany the chapters and allow them to visualize certain events or eras more easily.

Book cover

Style

This book has a very easy and "pleasant" style to read, but deals with very painful and shocking themes. Each chapter focuses on a type of violence against women. Using emotional but simple language and testimonies from victims and survivors who have endured hell as well as statistics, Sue Lloyd Roberts allows all types of readers to understand the information she seeks to share. It demonstrates with rage the contempt and hypocrisy of societies of yesteryear and today towards women. The language and writing style are very direct and the author does not leave the possibility in the reader's mind to excuse the behavior of those who have been "complicit" in these crimes. Readers can guess the emotions that upset Sue Lloyd Roberts while she was writing this book and will be overwhelmed by the emotions emanating from the pages. Lloyd-Roberts, on the other hand, does not turn testimonies into melodramas or exaggerations. She tells her personal feelings and lets women express themselves freely. For skeptics who question the veracity of his work, Lloyd-Roberts reinforces his opinions and testimonies with facts and statistics produced by NGOs such as Amnesty International, The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, the Commission on Human Rights or Human Rights Watch. Despite Sue Lloyd-Roberts' strong opinion throughout the book, she allows the opposition to be expressed through excerpts from interviews that alternate with the women's testimonies. An avid journalist, she adds an appendix with the sources of her information among others. If readers feel like it, they will be able to do more in-depth research on the various topics described in the book.

Overall impressions

This book could be compared to a dossier. Through poignant testimonies, Lloyd-Roberts passionately recounts the abuse, humiliation and violence suffered by women all over the world, from America to Asia. Lloyd-Roberts handles his pen frankly, not sparing the sensibilities of the public when she transcribes on the blank page the chilling stories of the women who had the courage to speak. The editorial team highly recommends this work, which demonstrates the battles waged and those that still remain to be fought today. This book is a condemnation. Men and women, those who participated in the abuses committed against women find themselves in the dock. But more than that, this book is a tribute to the women who went through these ordeals and it salutes the courage of the victims and survivors. Sue Lloyd Roberts died in 2015 from cancer. His memory lives on through his children who completed his work in his place.