Carter Center to Host Women's Rights Twitter Chat with Human Rights Activists and The Young Turks Co-Host Ana Kasparian

Contact: Deborah Hakes +1-404-420-5124,dhakes@emory.edu

ATLANTA… On March 27, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. mEDT, Carter Center Senior Adviser for Human Rights Karin Ryan and The Young Turks Co-Host and Producer Ana Kasparian will host a Twitter chat on women's rights with human rights activists and the general public following the release of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's new book on these issues, "A Call to Action" (Simon & Schuster). Members of the press and public can follow along and join the discussion on Twitter by following The Carter Center @CarterCenter and using the hashtag #ACalltoAction.

WHO:

Karin Ryan: As Carter Center senior project advisor, Ms. Ryan works with President Carter and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter on a range of issues, including assisting their efforts on behalf of victims of human rights violations through personal interventions with heads of state.

Ana Kasparian: is the Americanco-host and producer for the online news show The Young Turks. Kasparian began working as a fill-in producer for The Young Turksin 2007 and is now co-host of the main show and host of The Pointon the TYT Network. Follow Ana on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/AnaKasparian

Ritu Sharma: is co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide. For more than two decades, she has been at the forefront of efforts to reduce gender-based violence and help women and girls in developing countries to break free of poverty and inequality. She is author of the forthcoming book "Teach a Woman to Fish: Overcoming Poverty Around the Globe."

Sister Simone Campbell: is a religious leader, advocate, and activist working to promote systematic change in the public policy arena. She is executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic organization lobbying for social justice, and is perhaps most well known for the letter she wrote to congress in support of healthcare reform and leader of the Nuns on the Bus. Her forthcoming book "A Nun on the Bus" will be released in April 2014.

Reverend Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite: is a professor of Theology and President Emerita at Chicago Theological Seminary, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. She was ordained a minister of the United Church of Christ in 1974. She is a columnist for the Huffington Post, as well as for FaithStreet, and media commentator on matters of religion and faith.

ABOUT PRESIDENT CARTER'S NEW BOOK "A CALL TO ACTION":

Available in bookstores starting March 25, "A Call to Action" (Simon & Schuster) urges the end of discrimination and abuse against women, calling it the number one challenge in the world today. The book builds on the work of faith leaders and courageous human rights defenders who met last summer at The Carter Center to mobilize faith groups worldwide to commit to advancing women's rights. Religion, they said, should be a force for equality and human dignity, not oppression.

In his new book, President Carter argues that people's actions are guided by international agreements as well as their own moral values, most often derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Bible, the Koran, and other texts that proclaim a commitment to justice and mercy, equality of treatment between men and women, and a duty to alleviate suffering. He also asserts it is not possible to address the rights of women, the human and civil rights struggle of our time, without looking at factors that create an acceptance of violence in our society - violence that inevitably affects women disproportionately.

Large-scale crimes against women enumerated in "A Call to Action" include: slavery, genital cutting, infanticide, child marriage, rape, honor killings, and economic and social deprivation. He calls on everyone to study these violations of basic moral values and take corrective action.

President Carter writes, "My own experiences and the testimony of courageous women from all regions and all major religions have made it clear that there is a pervasive denial of equal rights to more than half of all human beings, and this discrimination results in tangible harm to all of us, male and female."

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"Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.