Women: A World Survey

by Ruth Leger Sivard, Liv Ullmann (foreword)

Over the years I have spent much time in the company of women- not only in the great cities of the world, but in small & hidden places in countrysides so impoverished that a woman who finds two or three pieces of firewood after a day’s search counts herself fortunate, while others wait for hours for some drops of water to trickle into their empty buckets. Then there are those of us rushing to our work, collecting pay checks for our efforts, discussing guilt feelings about time spent away from our children.
It is the great merit of Ruth Sivard’s world survey of women that in its pages we discover once again that we are all sisters under the skin.
There are “two & one-half billion women in the world, speaking 2967 languages & living in countries where the average annual income ranges from under $200 to $30,000 per capita", she begins. After presenting a wealth of statistical information, she concludes that “Women’s sense of inequality shared has triggered a movement for change which is now emerging everywhere; it differs from earlier drives for equality in being worldwide & focusing on broad issues.”
This too has been my experience as I have traveled the world as an Ambassador of Good Will for UNICEF. The painstaking collection & classification of statistics documenting women’s inequality in health, education, the workplace, in the law & in society irrefutably support my own, often painful, observations & experiences. Ruth Sivard’s Women: A World Survey brings to life the comment of an English physician who said of the science of statistics that, after all, it only represented people with the tears wiped off.
This report is sober evidence that we can trust our senses.--Liv Ullman, UNICEF representative, actress, director, author

44 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

The World Military & Social Expenditures report 1st appeared in 1964, when Ruth Leger Sivard was in charge of international economic studies at the Arms Control & Disarmamant Agency, the government agency responsible for overseeing the country’s armament & disarmament. In response to requests from the State Department & members of the government who needed accurate information in this field, she began collecting statistics on national spending. This was before the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) began to publish an annual newsletter, & there was no other yearly issue of detailed information on world military spending.
As she responded to official requests, Ruth Sivard, who is a sociologist & economist, realized that figures on arms spending would be even more eloquent if they could be set against the amounts devoted to spending in the social sector & other priority needs. This is why the 1st report prepared by her staff & published in 1/66 by her agency included data concerning not only military spending on defense, but also funds devoted to education, health & economic aid to other countries. In 1968, the report’s title was changed to World Military Expenditures, but it continued to compare social spending with military spending & it became the most frequently requested of all the agency’s publications.
In 1973, however, the agency decided to exclude from the report any mention of social needs either in the USA or elsewhere. This radical change was made following complaints by the Defense Department. In a memorandum addressed to the President, the Defense Secretary emphasized that the comparisons shown in the report made it difficult for him to obtain congressional approval for the provisional budget prepared by his department.
Sivard was convinced that it was more vital than ever to warn the public against the social & economic consequences of the arms race. Following the change in government, she decided to resign from her official duties in order to continue bringing out her report, but on a completely independent basis.
Sivard formed a non-profit publishing company, World Priorities Inc., in order to produce her book. Her new report, published in 12/74 & now entitled World Military & Social Expenditures, sharpened the analysis & gave a broader international range of social indicators.
Since then Sivard has been both author & publisher of her report, but she wishes to point out that this independent project would never have seen the light of day if it hadn't been for the generous assistance of several groups which provided her with very detailed data & the organizations which supported her venture. Eminent specialists & members of international institutions also gave their support to the project. UNESCO, thanks to Carceles Breis, was her 1st professional partner: in 4/74, she started to receive statistical data concerning education. Since then, she received increasingly detailed data from this organization every year until she ceased publication in 1996 for health reasons.
The report was distributed worldwide, with more than 20,000 copies printed in English yearly. It has also appeared in French, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Japanese, German & Spanish.
Among the many commendations Ruth Leger Sivard has received is the prestigious UNESCO Peace Education Award in 1991, its former recipient being Mother Theresa.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

1986 was probably the last year I purchased any of Sivard's studies, those being her World Military and Social Expenditures 1985 and this one, her first study of the global position of women. So impressed was I with this that I have since passed it on to a woman doing related research.