Women in the World Summit April 22

Tina Brown, known in Britain as Lady Evens, noted journalist, magazine editor and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, is preparing for the sixth annual Women in the World Summit taking place at Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday, according to CBS News.  She launched this year’s event with an appearance on the CBS Morning Show. 

The three-day summit will highlight the struggles and triumphs of women around the globe.  High profile speakers include Hillary Clinton, Merle Streep, Jon Stewart, Barbara Streisand, Ava DuVernay,  Sister Rosemary Nyriumbe, Mary Robinson, Obiageli Ezekwesili, Diane von Furstenberg, Elif Shafak and Kennedy Odede.

Brown, the founder of the summit, was born in Britain but became an American citizen in 2005 since emigrating to the US in 1984 to become an editor for Vanity Fair.  Previously she was editor-in-chief at the Tatler, but then branched out to US media industry and stints at Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. As the recipient of numerous awards, she partnered with Barry Diller to found and edit The Daily Beast from which she launched Tina Brown Media.  Brown and woman like her have been able to break glass ceilings where men have dominated; however, many women still struggle for pay equity at all levels of income, corporate status, and gender equality.  

 The Women in the World Summit is important for all nations, but this year it’s particularly timely as Hillary Clinton is poised to possibly be the first woman president of the United States. In general women’s access, privileges and rights, however, deserve a closer look. In addition, it is noteworthy that over 70 countries have had either elected or appointed female heads of state, but the US is not among them.

A CNN report compared the US to other countries in terms of women’s roles and freedoms. The statistics paint a different image from what most Americans perceive as US gender equality.

The majority of Constitutions around the world guarantee gender equality WORLD Policy Analysis Center reports. Eleven constitutions, however, allow religious or customary laws to override parts or all of the constitution.

“Only 32 constitutions [out of 197 globally] do not include an explicit gender equality guarantee. The U.S. Constitution is one of them. Though parts of the Constitution -- like the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment -- may appear to protect women, even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has said this isn't the case,” they said.

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