Women's Rights and Social Change

About The Book

Women's rights are the rights and entitlements asserted for women and girls worldwide, and they served as the foundation for the nineteenth-century women's rights movement and the twentieth-century feminist movement. These rights are institutionalised or supported by legislation, local custom, and conduct in some countries, but neglected and suppressed in others. They diverge from broader conceptions of human rights by asserting an underlying historical and traditional prejudice against the exercise of rights by women and girls in favour of males and boys. Women's Rights and Social Change focuses on how women from various traditions have been able to effect change and how rights have either assisted or impeded women's participation in the change process. In the face of injustice, individuals gather together to work for change, and what was once impossible becomes commonplace through their influence. This book chronicles the history of the women's rights movement, including significant individuals, watershed moments, and legislative struggles that fueled social change. This book will appeal to everyone interested in gender development and women's empowerment, as well as researchers and students.