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Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence against Women
Every three seconds, a girl under the age of 18 is married somewhere across the world usually without her consent and sometimes to a much older man. Combining rigorous research and compelling personal testimonies, Elaine Storkey investigates the different forms of violence experienced by women across the globe today. From female infanticide and child brides to domestic abuse, prostitution, rape and honour killings, violence against women occurs at all stages of life, and in all cultures and societies. How and why has this violence become so prevalent? Storkey examines the answers that are commonly offered, including theories based on evolutionary psychology and the rise of patriarchal power structures. She also considers the role that religion can play for good or ill in the struggle against this universal injustice.
276 pages, Paperback
Published November 25, 2015
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June 14, 2017
DNF at 46 pages (book was around 200 pages).
I have massive issues with the way Storkey has collected data on this book.
Firstly, a large chunk of her information is coming from data collected by the United Nations. United Nations serves the western world, not the whole world. They have a long history of ignoring, shoving, and mistreating other countries that makes them highly biased in how they view and collect their data. When this is your primary source of information on most things, you’re already on rocky ground with me.
Secondly, there is no mention in the 46 pages read (and I expected this primarily in the introduction) of the western hypocrisy when it comes to Saudi Arabia. If you go on to justify certain atrocities against women as a “cultural issue”, then explain to me why Saudi Arabia is exempt from this. Perhaps also explain here why I should trust solely the UN when they are the same group of people who elected Saudi Arabia to head the women’s rights commission.
Lastly, there are certain issues when it comes to the forms of violence against women that are more relevant in specific countries. Her logic for why she chooses to cover one country but not the other country not only baffles me but leaves a very large gap in what this book proclaims to offer you.
In a chapter about infanticide and feticide, she talks about India but leaves out China. Right, it’s absolutely not biased if you leave out the country with the largest population in the world and their massive issue with feticide out of a chapter about unborn to young girls facing death.
In discussing Kenya’s approach to FGM she portrays Christian missionaries as angelic liberals who are trying to free the Kenyan women. Sureeee, let’s totally forget about the horrible violence Christian missionaries brought to African nations. And South American nations. And Asian nations. And still continue to do so.
I stopped reading this book at page 46 because that is the end of the 3rd chapter, which literally ends with ‘Amen to that!’ (no, seriously).
I was curious about the last chapter (titled ‘Christianity and gender: a fuller picture’) given the last line of chapter 3 so obviously, I peaked. And while the first ‘introductory’ section is more fair about accepting that Christianity has it’s own issues in mistreating women, her first topical paragraph starts off with,
I stared at ‘countries like Ethiopia’ for a good minute before it finally sunk in.
Reading this book is like reading about Arab spring from CIA’s perspective. Some of the information is accurate, perhaps even the intent is genuine, but some of the causes are most certainly going to be underrepresented, and you can bet your sweet ass there is going to be a blatant bias towards hiding one’s own problems.
If you’re going to tackle such a heavy and serious subject, do it properly or don’t bother at all.
I have massive issues with the way Storkey has collected data on this book.
Firstly, a large chunk of her information is coming from data collected by the United Nations. United Nations serves the western world, not the whole world. They have a long history of ignoring, shoving, and mistreating other countries that makes them highly biased in how they view and collect their data. When this is your primary source of information on most things, you’re already on rocky ground with me.
Secondly, there is no mention in the 46 pages read (and I expected this primarily in the introduction) of the western hypocrisy when it comes to Saudi Arabia. If you go on to justify certain atrocities against women as a “cultural issue”, then explain to me why Saudi Arabia is exempt from this. Perhaps also explain here why I should trust solely the UN when they are the same group of people who elected Saudi Arabia to head the women’s rights commission.
Lastly, there are certain issues when it comes to the forms of violence against women that are more relevant in specific countries. Her logic for why she chooses to cover one country but not the other country not only baffles me but leaves a very large gap in what this book proclaims to offer you.
In a chapter about infanticide and feticide, she talks about India but leaves out China. Right, it’s absolutely not biased if you leave out the country with the largest population in the world and their massive issue with feticide out of a chapter about unborn to young girls facing death.
In discussing Kenya’s approach to FGM she portrays Christian missionaries as angelic liberals who are trying to free the Kenyan women. Sureeee, let’s totally forget about the horrible violence Christian missionaries brought to African nations. And South American nations. And Asian nations. And still continue to do so.
I stopped reading this book at page 46 because that is the end of the 3rd chapter, which literally ends with ‘Amen to that!’ (no, seriously).
I was curious about the last chapter (titled ‘Christianity and gender: a fuller picture’) given the last line of chapter 3 so obviously, I peaked. And while the first ‘introductory’ section is more fair about accepting that Christianity has it’s own issues in mistreating women, her first topical paragraph starts off with,
Gender inequality in the Church today
Christianity has not been involved in many of the forms of gender-based violence which we looked at in earlier chapters. Selective abortion, honour killings, acid attacks, bride burning and trafficking are abhorrent to humanity and rarely, if ever, encountered in Christian contexts. Approval of child marriage does occur within some communities, but is limited to countries like Ethiopia.
I stared at ‘countries like Ethiopia’ for a good minute before it finally sunk in.
Reading this book is like reading about Arab spring from CIA’s perspective. Some of the information is accurate, perhaps even the intent is genuine, but some of the causes are most certainly going to be underrepresented, and you can bet your sweet ass there is going to be a blatant bias towards hiding one’s own problems.
If you’re going to tackle such a heavy and serious subject, do it properly or don’t bother at all.
June 9, 2016
Some books just break you. They tear down your neatly compartmentalised perspectives and opinions. They “burst your bubble”, so to speak, causing the cultural and self-induced anaesthesia’s to be flushed out of your system; leaving you aware of a reality that you had never wanted to see before.
Some books need to break us. As Franz Kafka once wrote, “If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?”
Elaine Storkey’s latest book, *Scars Across Humanity*, certainly does this.
And it’s a much needed blow -- the violence against women has perpetuated on for far too long. Charting us through the issues of female genital mutilation, selective abortion and infanticide, rape, trafficking and domestic violence (to name only a few of the topics this book describes), *Scars Across Humanity* clearly diagnoses the pandemic of violence that is taking place towards women, in some form, on every continent of our planet.
This isn’t merely a book about dry statistics -- this is a book about stories, human lives, and the demeaning, destructive, discriminating and dehumanising value that is ascribed to them.
You’ll be shaken when you read this book. It’s terrifying in many ways. Some of the accounts are raw and brutal. But they need to be told, the lid needs to be lifted. The victims of this pandemic have been extremely courageous to stand up and share their stories; the least you can do is read them! The spread of this deepening, patriarchal inflicted scar needs to be stopped, and that can’t happen whilst many of us are in denial of its existence.
*Scars Across Humanity* is a powerful thrust in the direction of justice and inequality. By a long shot, this the most important book I’ve read in the past year – maybe my lifetime.
Please read this book, and tell others to read it too.
Some books need to break us. As Franz Kafka once wrote, “If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?”
Elaine Storkey’s latest book, *Scars Across Humanity*, certainly does this.
And it’s a much needed blow -- the violence against women has perpetuated on for far too long. Charting us through the issues of female genital mutilation, selective abortion and infanticide, rape, trafficking and domestic violence (to name only a few of the topics this book describes), *Scars Across Humanity* clearly diagnoses the pandemic of violence that is taking place towards women, in some form, on every continent of our planet.
This isn’t merely a book about dry statistics -- this is a book about stories, human lives, and the demeaning, destructive, discriminating and dehumanising value that is ascribed to them.
You’ll be shaken when you read this book. It’s terrifying in many ways. Some of the accounts are raw and brutal. But they need to be told, the lid needs to be lifted. The victims of this pandemic have been extremely courageous to stand up and share their stories; the least you can do is read them! The spread of this deepening, patriarchal inflicted scar needs to be stopped, and that can’t happen whilst many of us are in denial of its existence.
*Scars Across Humanity* is a powerful thrust in the direction of justice and inequality. By a long shot, this the most important book I’ve read in the past year – maybe my lifetime.
Please read this book, and tell others to read it too.
February 7, 2017
An important and interesting book - it's definitely both terrifying and eye-opening to see all this violence against women together in one place. It isn't without it's flaws - I wish the testimonies of the women the author has met and talked to were given more room, and the conclusion felt slightly narrow to me. Worth the read though.
June 14, 2018
A powerful account of the violence that women around the globe face every day, including child brides, female infanticide, honor killings, genital mutilation and physical and emotional abuse. Storkey's research is meticulous and she does a great job of sharing testimonials and then breaking down how these crimes are justified in different cultures and religions. Great book, but reading some of the details about how women are treated, made my blood boil. *ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
August 26, 2018
Summary: A description of the global crisis of violence against women, possible explanations, and the measures being taken to address different forms of violence.
Selective abortion and infanticide. Female genital mutilation. Early, forced marriage. Honor killings. Domestic violence. Sex trafficking and prostitution. Rape. Sexual violence in war. From the Congo, Egypt, Pakistan, southeast Asia, to the metropolitan centers and suburbs of Europe and North America, there is a pandemic of violence in various forms against women--most of it perpetrated by men.
One of the signal contributions of this work, written by Elaine Storkey, an advocate for women, is to rigorously document this pandemic, describing specific instances as well as the overall prevalence of the forms of violence against women listed above. Some of the descriptions are graphic and heart-breaking of women facing debilitating physical injuries and psychic scars of the violence done against them. Nine of the thirteen chapters in this work delineate the extent and nature of this violence. Her comments on the effectiveness of gender-based violence as a tactic of war that "inevitably hits the target" is chilling. Along the way, Storkey reports on efforts being taken in advocacy, law, and support to address the violence, much of it after the fact. Much remains to be done. For example, Storkey notes that "603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is still not a crime."
All of this begs the question of why is this so universally a part of the human experience (a "scar across humanity") and particularly why is violence against women so pervasively a male behavior? Three chapters explore evolutionary, patriarchal, and religious explanations. Each, to some extent, offer some explanation for this behavior but none are completely satisfying, and none can be used as a warrant to ever justify violence. A problem that I saw with the chapter on religion is that it focused exclusively on Islam. I felt a broader treatment would have been more even-handed and would avoid feeding anti-Muslim stereotypes (although she does describe movements defending the rights of women within Islam).
The final chapter on Christianity and gender acknowledges the sad history of patriarchy and a turning of a blind eye to domestic violence in the church but also notes how scripture gives warrant for the dignity, equality, and full partnership of women in marriage and the church, and no warrant for any form of violence. She notes the "texts of terror," but argues these are descriptive rather than ever prescriptive. Finally, Storkey traces the root cause of gender based violence to human rebellion against God--sin. She writes:
"At a far deeper level than either 'biology' or 'culture,' then, 'sin' helps us explain the ubiquity of violence against women. We are responsible. Patriarchal structures are a product of human choices and attitudes; oppression and brutality are rooted in the power sin exercises in human communities. A Christian theology of sin places accountability for attitudes, culture and actions firmly on human shoulders; we have to own what we create" (p. 223).
This is good a far as it goes, and I would agree with everything here, but I found her brief treatment less than satisfying in explaining why violence against women is a preferred male expression of our fallen sinfulness, particularly in light of her extensive treatment of evolutionary and patriarchal explanations. For this, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen's Gender and Grace goes into far greater depth.
Storkey's book is an important one for men to read. This cannot remain a women's conversation. As men, we need to own what we have created and face our collective "heart of darkness" and the tragic mayhem we have wrought across the globe, from date rape to femicide. We need to own that we are the reason that no girl or woman from eight (or earlier) to eighty can live without fear in our presence. This book faces us with the ugly consequences of the abuse of our masculinity and challenges us to join our mothers, sisters, and daughters as advocates and allies rather than aggressors. It challenges us to live redemptively, joining with Jesus, who elevated the status of women throughout his ministry.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Selective abortion and infanticide. Female genital mutilation. Early, forced marriage. Honor killings. Domestic violence. Sex trafficking and prostitution. Rape. Sexual violence in war. From the Congo, Egypt, Pakistan, southeast Asia, to the metropolitan centers and suburbs of Europe and North America, there is a pandemic of violence in various forms against women--most of it perpetrated by men.
One of the signal contributions of this work, written by Elaine Storkey, an advocate for women, is to rigorously document this pandemic, describing specific instances as well as the overall prevalence of the forms of violence against women listed above. Some of the descriptions are graphic and heart-breaking of women facing debilitating physical injuries and psychic scars of the violence done against them. Nine of the thirteen chapters in this work delineate the extent and nature of this violence. Her comments on the effectiveness of gender-based violence as a tactic of war that "inevitably hits the target" is chilling. Along the way, Storkey reports on efforts being taken in advocacy, law, and support to address the violence, much of it after the fact. Much remains to be done. For example, Storkey notes that "603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is still not a crime."
All of this begs the question of why is this so universally a part of the human experience (a "scar across humanity") and particularly why is violence against women so pervasively a male behavior? Three chapters explore evolutionary, patriarchal, and religious explanations. Each, to some extent, offer some explanation for this behavior but none are completely satisfying, and none can be used as a warrant to ever justify violence. A problem that I saw with the chapter on religion is that it focused exclusively on Islam. I felt a broader treatment would have been more even-handed and would avoid feeding anti-Muslim stereotypes (although she does describe movements defending the rights of women within Islam).
The final chapter on Christianity and gender acknowledges the sad history of patriarchy and a turning of a blind eye to domestic violence in the church but also notes how scripture gives warrant for the dignity, equality, and full partnership of women in marriage and the church, and no warrant for any form of violence. She notes the "texts of terror," but argues these are descriptive rather than ever prescriptive. Finally, Storkey traces the root cause of gender based violence to human rebellion against God--sin. She writes:
"At a far deeper level than either 'biology' or 'culture,' then, 'sin' helps us explain the ubiquity of violence against women. We are responsible. Patriarchal structures are a product of human choices and attitudes; oppression and brutality are rooted in the power sin exercises in human communities. A Christian theology of sin places accountability for attitudes, culture and actions firmly on human shoulders; we have to own what we create" (p. 223).
This is good a far as it goes, and I would agree with everything here, but I found her brief treatment less than satisfying in explaining why violence against women is a preferred male expression of our fallen sinfulness, particularly in light of her extensive treatment of evolutionary and patriarchal explanations. For this, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen's Gender and Grace goes into far greater depth.
Storkey's book is an important one for men to read. This cannot remain a women's conversation. As men, we need to own what we have created and face our collective "heart of darkness" and the tragic mayhem we have wrought across the globe, from date rape to femicide. We need to own that we are the reason that no girl or woman from eight (or earlier) to eighty can live without fear in our presence. This book faces us with the ugly consequences of the abuse of our masculinity and challenges us to join our mothers, sisters, and daughters as advocates and allies rather than aggressors. It challenges us to live redemptively, joining with Jesus, who elevated the status of women throughout his ministry.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
August 22, 2025
This book is deeply deeply flawed and I would not recommend it to anyone. It takes a very biased view about gender based violence through the way they chose their country foci and the sources they decided to include. It completely chose to ignore the impact that western colonialism had, completely ignored the gender based violence that occurs in the west and at times glorified the work of Christian missionaries. In fact the last two chapters are about religion and violence against women and girls. The author depicted Islam as a flawed religion that causes violence against women, ignoring the nuances between religion and culture. But when it tried to describe the instances of violence against women and girls under Christianity, the author mainly chose to focus on bible passages that condemn violence and tried to claim that while there is gender based violence based on Christianity, the worst forms of it are not encountered in it, and if they are it's in non-western countries.
If you want a more nuanced take on gender based violence read 'Our Bodies their Battlefield' by Christina Lamb instead.
If you want a more nuanced take on gender based violence read 'Our Bodies their Battlefield' by Christina Lamb instead.
February 11, 2022
"Gender-based violence is 'the great unfinished business of our time' and we cannot underestimate the walls that must be dismantled before it can be brought to an end." Elaine Storkey tells us what these "walls" are and in the last chapter describes how Christian faith can be the foundation of the work to dismantle them.
This is an uncomfortable book to read for anyone, maybe especially a man. It tells it like it is. However, is it packed full of information and stories that leave no reader in any doubt about the scars that exist across the whole of humanity.
This is an uncomfortable book to read for anyone, maybe especially a man. It tells it like it is. However, is it packed full of information and stories that leave no reader in any doubt about the scars that exist across the whole of humanity.
March 31, 2018
An unflinching but hopeful look at the plight of women across the globe - and how the church can be a site of hope and healing.
May 17, 2018
Her book will raise your blood pressure and stoke your sense of outrage. But it will also sharpen your perception of what is happening around you, just out of ear shot or out of eye sight. Wife, mother, scholar, author, speaker, journalist, tireless advocate for the marginalized as president of Tearfund and cofounder of Restored: Elaine Storkey compiles a sturdy dossier on violence against women and girls across the world in her 288 page paperback, "Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women". On the one hand it is easily readable no matter your skill level; on the other hand it is hard to read if you have a heart!
"Scars Across Humanity" is a studious report on the ways nations and societies assault and violate their women and girls. Storkey takes whole chapters to meticulously describe the universality of specific forms of violence. After asserting that gender-specific violence is a global pandemic, she then takes eight chapters to work over various manifestations of female-focused coercion. Abortions that target female fetuses and infanticide of girls; genital mutilation; early, enforced marriages; honor killings; domestic abuse; trafficking and prostituting; and sexual violence in war. Each subject gets its own chapter thoroughly researched and rigorously packed.
The author then takes on theories of gender-based violence. She examines sociobiology's and evolutionary psychology's explanations, and exposes their inadequacies. Storkey also gets into Marxist/Socialist forms of feminism, showing where these are unsatisfactory. The author kindly grapples with Islam, pointing out the ways it has been misused to fuel gender-based violence, and registers ways that Islamic feminists are making inroads from within. Finally, she presents a chapter on Christianity and gender which I thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated.
I found two areas that gave me some concern. To begin, the author seems obsessed with "patriarchy" throughout the book. She lays all of these evils at the feet of patriarchal societies, patriarchal traditions, patriarchal power, patriarchal authority, patriarchal cultures, ad infinitum. But, as far as I could see, it was never defined. There is a load of ideological baggage encumbering that word, but it means different things to different groups. As it stands, the book leaves the reader with a bad taste for "patriarchy" so that if they ever heard it used they would immediately think bad things (in a kind of Pavlovian way). I really did find this unhelpful.
Further, Storkey is a Westerner, as am I, and it hit me that some of her analysis showed a smidgen of Western snobbery. For example, while describing the badness of "early and enforced marriages" for girls, she targets Niger, where "a staggering 75 per cent of all girls marry under 18, and 33 per cent under 15" (50). That statement strikes me as culturally and chronologically condescending. It wasn't that long ago our very own grandparents and great-grandparents married at those ages. No doubt there were social pressures that pushed this, but there was also a shorter lifespan that inspired urgency. Now that Americans and other Westerners live, on average, well into their 70s, we can (and are) postponing marriage to later years. So I checked it out with a simple Google search, and World Bank says the average lifespan in Niger in 2015 (when the UK version of this book was originally published) was 53 and rising (other sources gave slightly different lifespans, but all were 60 and below). Though there may be other social expectations and cultural perceptions at work in Niger, but shorter lifespans are surely giving some sense of urgency as well. I'm not sure that earlier marriages are proof positive of gender-abuse.
But neither of these concerns takes away from the value of the book, in my eyes. This is an important read for all. It is eye-opening and heartbreaking. "Scars Across Humanity" needs to be picked up and poured over be men and women, politicians and pastors, academics and medics. I highly recommend the work.
My thanks to IVP Academic for sending the book used for this review. There were no strings attached. The conclusions and concerns herein are my own, and freely given.
"Scars Across Humanity" is a studious report on the ways nations and societies assault and violate their women and girls. Storkey takes whole chapters to meticulously describe the universality of specific forms of violence. After asserting that gender-specific violence is a global pandemic, she then takes eight chapters to work over various manifestations of female-focused coercion. Abortions that target female fetuses and infanticide of girls; genital mutilation; early, enforced marriages; honor killings; domestic abuse; trafficking and prostituting; and sexual violence in war. Each subject gets its own chapter thoroughly researched and rigorously packed.
The author then takes on theories of gender-based violence. She examines sociobiology's and evolutionary psychology's explanations, and exposes their inadequacies. Storkey also gets into Marxist/Socialist forms of feminism, showing where these are unsatisfactory. The author kindly grapples with Islam, pointing out the ways it has been misused to fuel gender-based violence, and registers ways that Islamic feminists are making inroads from within. Finally, she presents a chapter on Christianity and gender which I thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated.
I found two areas that gave me some concern. To begin, the author seems obsessed with "patriarchy" throughout the book. She lays all of these evils at the feet of patriarchal societies, patriarchal traditions, patriarchal power, patriarchal authority, patriarchal cultures, ad infinitum. But, as far as I could see, it was never defined. There is a load of ideological baggage encumbering that word, but it means different things to different groups. As it stands, the book leaves the reader with a bad taste for "patriarchy" so that if they ever heard it used they would immediately think bad things (in a kind of Pavlovian way). I really did find this unhelpful.
Further, Storkey is a Westerner, as am I, and it hit me that some of her analysis showed a smidgen of Western snobbery. For example, while describing the badness of "early and enforced marriages" for girls, she targets Niger, where "a staggering 75 per cent of all girls marry under 18, and 33 per cent under 15" (50). That statement strikes me as culturally and chronologically condescending. It wasn't that long ago our very own grandparents and great-grandparents married at those ages. No doubt there were social pressures that pushed this, but there was also a shorter lifespan that inspired urgency. Now that Americans and other Westerners live, on average, well into their 70s, we can (and are) postponing marriage to later years. So I checked it out with a simple Google search, and World Bank says the average lifespan in Niger in 2015 (when the UK version of this book was originally published) was 53 and rising (other sources gave slightly different lifespans, but all were 60 and below). Though there may be other social expectations and cultural perceptions at work in Niger, but shorter lifespans are surely giving some sense of urgency as well. I'm not sure that earlier marriages are proof positive of gender-abuse.
But neither of these concerns takes away from the value of the book, in my eyes. This is an important read for all. It is eye-opening and heartbreaking. "Scars Across Humanity" needs to be picked up and poured over be men and women, politicians and pastors, academics and medics. I highly recommend the work.
My thanks to IVP Academic for sending the book used for this review. There were no strings attached. The conclusions and concerns herein are my own, and freely given.
March 9, 2018
Scars Across Humanity
Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women
by Elaine Storkey
InterVarsity Press
IVP Academic
Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 20 Feb 2018
I am reviewing a copy of Scars Across Humanity through IV Press and Netgalley:
November 25 1960 in a Sugarcane field in the Dominican Public three sisters are brutally murdered. The sisters were strangled and clubbed to death, they were three out of the four Mirabal Sisters. The murder so brutal the killers put them in a Jeep and pushed it over the cliff, wanting to make it look like an accident but no one was fooled.
Almost fourth years later on November 25 1999, November 25 became known as the International Day Again Violence Towards Women.
From Tahir Egypt to the Congo violence against women is a real struggle, even in the United States Violence against women .
Elaine Storkey deals with everything from early forced marriages, to selective abortions, to spousal abuse.
Every three seconds a girl under eighteen is married somewhere in the world. That’s barely the time it takes for a person to blink. Most of the times these marriages are without consent and generally to a much older man. These forced marriages put these girls at risk.
Elaine Storkey goes on to talk about both (so called) honor killings and Femicide. In some parts of the world some girls are murdered for something as harmless as talking to a boy. Even in the U.S and Canada we have seen cases of Honor Killings.
Human Trafficking is also a very real issue that sadly many women have to face. Although men can be victims of human trafficking it is women and girls who are most vulnerable.
Rape is also another evil women have to attend with.
I give Scars Across Humanity five out of five stars!
Happy Reading
Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women
by Elaine Storkey
InterVarsity Press
IVP Academic
Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 20 Feb 2018
I am reviewing a copy of Scars Across Humanity through IV Press and Netgalley:
November 25 1960 in a Sugarcane field in the Dominican Public three sisters are brutally murdered. The sisters were strangled and clubbed to death, they were three out of the four Mirabal Sisters. The murder so brutal the killers put them in a Jeep and pushed it over the cliff, wanting to make it look like an accident but no one was fooled.
Almost fourth years later on November 25 1999, November 25 became known as the International Day Again Violence Towards Women.
From Tahir Egypt to the Congo violence against women is a real struggle, even in the United States Violence against women .
Elaine Storkey deals with everything from early forced marriages, to selective abortions, to spousal abuse.
Every three seconds a girl under eighteen is married somewhere in the world. That’s barely the time it takes for a person to blink. Most of the times these marriages are without consent and generally to a much older man. These forced marriages put these girls at risk.
Elaine Storkey goes on to talk about both (so called) honor killings and Femicide. In some parts of the world some girls are murdered for something as harmless as talking to a boy. Even in the U.S and Canada we have seen cases of Honor Killings.
Human Trafficking is also a very real issue that sadly many women have to face. Although men can be victims of human trafficking it is women and girls who are most vulnerable.
Rape is also another evil women have to attend with.
I give Scars Across Humanity five out of five stars!
Happy Reading
January 4, 2018
An exploration into violence against women throughout the world and what Christians can do about it.
The first few chapters are a murderer's row of terrible stories documenting what women experience around the world: murder, honor killings, rape, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, genital mutilation, child brides, and so on. A quite sobering look at the conditions of women worldwide.
The author then explores the means by which these abuses are explained. She does well at exposing the limitations of the biological/evolutionary view of things, and concludes that the power dynamic/relations narrative proves more compelling. The book concludes with explorations of how feminism relates to Islam and Christianity.
The author's likely liberal Protestantism, or at least highly feminist Christian views, comes out especially in the final chapters. It proves easy to dismiss certain interpretations of Christianity as enabling patriarchal abuse because of holding to a certain standard for said interpretation. Is the solution really to just make one's view of the New Testament culturally relative? Is there really refuge for abusers and those who perpetrate violence against women even in a "strict" interpretation, consistent with context, of New Testament Christianity?
Nevertheless, worth exploring to be reminded of the plight of women worldwide. It's not pleasant out there.
**--galley received as part of early review program
The first few chapters are a murderer's row of terrible stories documenting what women experience around the world: murder, honor killings, rape, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, genital mutilation, child brides, and so on. A quite sobering look at the conditions of women worldwide.
The author then explores the means by which these abuses are explained. She does well at exposing the limitations of the biological/evolutionary view of things, and concludes that the power dynamic/relations narrative proves more compelling. The book concludes with explorations of how feminism relates to Islam and Christianity.
The author's likely liberal Protestantism, or at least highly feminist Christian views, comes out especially in the final chapters. It proves easy to dismiss certain interpretations of Christianity as enabling patriarchal abuse because of holding to a certain standard for said interpretation. Is the solution really to just make one's view of the New Testament culturally relative? Is there really refuge for abusers and those who perpetrate violence against women even in a "strict" interpretation, consistent with context, of New Testament Christianity?
Nevertheless, worth exploring to be reminded of the plight of women worldwide. It's not pleasant out there.
**--galley received as part of early review program
September 20, 2020
Quite broad brush because it covers so much ground but an important book I feel. Gives a horrifying and sobering overview of gender based violence and abuse globally in its many forms though not without glimmers of hope and a summary of changes being effected. Also gives an overview of the various theories from differing perspectives as to the root causes of gender based violence. The chapters on religion were good. I found the chapter on Christianity useful though not much was new to me. I think that chapter could be particularly helpful to new christians or to someone coming from a secular humanist standpoint for whom a think Elaine Storkey is an excellent guide in a whistlestop tour of the topic from a Christian perspective.
February 26, 2019
Any one who is for humanity needs to be a feminist! How could we not be one, become one or aspire to be one .. this book reveals the dark side of the planet and how by suppressing women and acting violently towards women we impose a darker role . Educating informing and becoming courageous citizens is part of an answer for a better world and a better fight . Many facts that are gathered to wake us up to the need to react and act for a better future. It is not an easy read but it is a necessity for understanding the issues
April 12, 2019
This is a good overview of the types of injustices that women and girls face. The last chapter goes into how (a warped view of) Christianity has contributed to this and how it has brought honor and restoration to women. I wish that more of the book was devoted to this discussion as that is what I was expecting from the whole book.
July 4, 2020
Moving between different aspects of oppression of women, this book is both very useful and shocking in its open honesty about the plight of so many across the world. Potentially essential reading for any who want to know the real extent of the harsh treatment of many across the world. Highly recommend this book, but you will need a strong stomach and maybe some tissues.
January 11, 2021
I found the author's religious bias to be overbearing. The parts I found most engaging were direct quotes from elsewhere. The writing itself was mediocre and the sources used were limited. The author seemed to be reluctant to state that male violence is the cause of the global epidemic of violence against women.
March 3, 2018
An uncomfortable read, a must for every man in christian leadership. Well done Elaine, a great overview sensitively written.
May 23, 2024
Such a treat to read an academically rigorous Christian book about real world issues
April 30, 2018
The accounts of how women are treated all over the world are horrendous and enraging, but it does not help to close our eyes to them. This book serves as a glimpse into the atrocities women face (and I say a glimpse because I'm not sure how comprehensive the sources are), and as such offers a useful, if gruesome broad overview.
However, I am unsure as to the validity of some of the sources, especially when it comes to numbers and figures, and speaking of figures, a lot of this book would have been much more readable as a simple chart or graph, instead of spelling it all out. This made the book not top of the class when it comes to readable nonfiction.
My final gripe with this book was the last chapter. It was a) mostly not focused on women but on Christianity and The Bible (with some connections to women, but way too little to my liking) and b) it presents Christianity in a way better light than I personally think it deserves, making it almost seem like it is the solution to violence against women.
So, spelling this out, I would probably migrate more to a 2.5/5 stars, but I'm rounding it up to 3.
However, I am unsure as to the validity of some of the sources, especially when it comes to numbers and figures, and speaking of figures, a lot of this book would have been much more readable as a simple chart or graph, instead of spelling it all out. This made the book not top of the class when it comes to readable nonfiction.
My final gripe with this book was the last chapter. It was a) mostly not focused on women but on Christianity and The Bible (with some connections to women, but way too little to my liking) and b) it presents Christianity in a way better light than I personally think it deserves, making it almost seem like it is the solution to violence against women.
So, spelling this out, I would probably migrate more to a 2.5/5 stars, but I'm rounding it up to 3.
June 12, 2018
I understand the criticism about this book. Scars across Humanity offers the reader a selective part of gendered violence, and seems biased at some points. However, I do appreciate how Storkey managed to put her own beliefs aside to write the chapter about gendered violence in christianity - although I think it could've been way more extensive. During the whole book, other cultures than the Western culture are shown as barbaric, violent and aggressive. When christianity is discussed, I feel as if Storkey tries to compensate for the pain and violence it rendered against women. I feel that this does not give an accurate overview.
Anyhow, I was shocked about the amount of hidden violence in this damned world and I know I should read more about this topic to really form an opinion about this book. If Scars across Humanity is read as an introduction to gendered violence, I think it reaches its goal.
Anyhow, I was shocked about the amount of hidden violence in this damned world and I know I should read more about this topic to really form an opinion about this book. If Scars across Humanity is read as an introduction to gendered violence, I think it reaches its goal.
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