The Power of Women: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing

Abstract

The Power of Women. This is the evocative title of Denis Mukwege’s book published in October 2021. Written in the first person, this
book will undoubtedly become a classic on women’s rights issues. It is dedicated to the “power of women,” in particular those whose
encounters forged in the Congolese gynaecologist and surgeon the conviction that women’s rights are human rights. More than an autobiography, The Power of Women is the story of the struggle that has inspired and continues to inspire the life of the man who has been called “the man who repairs women.” He poignantly describes the circumstances that made him a specialist in rape injuries and led him to the much larger struggle against injustice and cruelty to women. In the eleven chapters of this book, Dr Denis Mukwege tells the stories of his patients and pays tribute to the strength and resilience of survivors. But much more than that, he carries out cross-cutting analyses which, going beyond the simple framework of the treatment of rape victims, question the historical, socioeconomic, legal, political and geopolitical context of these monstrosities.