Jimmy Carter: Champion of Women’s Human Right to Live Free from Gender-Based Violence
By Darcy Berglund
We honor the life of former President Jimmy Carter who served as a world leader, founded a large nonprofit, pursued decades of humanitarian work, penned some two dozen books, and remained an active citizen of Plains, Georgia. As he approached his 10th decade, Carter would have been forgiven for slowing down. But Jimmy Carter did not slow down; he became, instead, an outspoken champion of women’s and girls’ human rights. In February of 2015, at the age of 90, Carter told CNN:
“The more (the Carter Center was) involved in 80 different countries around the world, the more we saw clearly the most serious and unaddressed human rights abuse on Earth is among women and girls….It’s much worse than I ever dreamed it was.”
And Carter stated that he would prioritize this cause for the rest of his life.
In his 2014 book “A Call to Action; Women, Religion, Violence, and Power,” Carter documented injustices and violence against women and girls. He was not afraid to spell out ugly truths throughout the book—slavery, genital cutting, child marriage, rape, abortion of female fetus’, spousal abuse. At the same time he put out, in bold fashion, root causes of these horrors, namely, a grave misinterpretation of sacred texts by religious leaders.
Carter posited that once a religious leader communicates that any group of people, in this case women, is inferior to any other group, control of the “inferior” group is seen by the “superior” group as justified by God. Carter called on leaders of all religions to end their unholy, and ultimately dangerous, patriarchal world-view.
At the end of “A Call to Action,” Carter lists 23 initiatives recommended by The Carter Center for bringing an end to practices that perpetuate abuses against women and girls. Number seven, for example, reads: “induce individual nations to elevate the end of human trafficking to a top priority, as they did to end slavery in the nineteenth century.” Carter goes a step further by declaring that The Carter Center will monitor and support all 23 initiatives.
The Carter Center was founded in 1982, in Atlanta, by Carter and his wife Rosalynn (in partnership with Emory University). The Center’s tagline “Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope,” aligns with its mission: “a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering.”
The Center’s accomplishments over the last forty-plus years (with the Carter’s close involvement) include nearly eradicating parasitic infections caused by guinea worm larvae; overseeing democratic elections in various communities around the world; and supporting Habitat for Humanity, from fundraising to swinging a hammer. Including a commitment to help no less than one-half the population of the globe.
In his 100 years Jimmy Carter consistently drew on his prodigious intellect, worldly observations, and keen insight in his efforts to make the world a better place. His partner was most often his wife Rosalynn, over, remarkably, a 77-year marriage. Carter was a man of faith, of action, and of deep concern for his fellow human beings. Known for his calm demeanor, he could at the same time come across, according to one of his sons, as “intense.”
Carter was also known for his frank honesty. He was not afraid to spell out what he saw as the main obstacle to ending the abuse of women and girls; as he told an audience at a TEDwomen talk in March of 2015:
“There’s one more basic cause that I need not mention, and that is that in general, men don’t give a damn….The average man might say, ‘I’m against the abuse of women and girls,’ but quietly accepts the privileged position that we occupy, and this is very similar to what I knew when I was a child, when separate but equal had existed…there were many white people that didn’t think that racial discrimination was okay, but they stayed quiet, because they enjoyed the privileges of better jobs, unique access to jury duty, better schools, and everything else…(similarly) it’s very difficult to get the majority of men who control the university system, the majority of men that control the military system, the majority of men that control the governments of the world, and the majority of men that control the great religions – to act for change.”
Carter himself did act for change, through his voice, through his pen, and through his actions. Now that he has reached the end of his full and accomplished life, we look back, with admiration and awe, at his desire to elevate human rights and to alleviate human suffering. And we say thank you, Mr. Carter, for folding the pivotal cause of women’s and girls’ human rights into your life’s work.
Darcy Berglund is a volunteer with Global Rights for Women, and recipient of the 2024 Bob Hamilton Service Award. She resides in Minneapolis.