An anthology of essays, facts, and statistics on the status of women's rights and roles in 70 countries representing every region and political system, especially the Global South. Contains data on education, women in government and the labor force, and each country's policies on marriage and divorce, motherhood, custody, sexual preference, welfare, rape, prostitution, and sexual harassment, plus national "herstories" and "mythographies," and a glossary. For those in women's studies and other fields, and for general readers. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.