UN Panel on Economic Empowerment for Women

I moderated an event at UN General Assembly today to kick off the empowerwomen.org website.

It was quite an adventure getting there. General Assembly week is known as the worst week of the year for midtown Manhattan traffic. I ended up abandoning my cab and jumping on a Citibike to weave through the gridlock and make it to the UN on time.

Among the presenters was actress and activist Geena Davis, who brought her foundation’s research on gender roles in media. Here’s the fact that stuck with me: female characters are under-represented in most professions depicted on screen. But with so many CSI and NCIS shows on the air, there are actually MORE female forensics experts on screen than men.

She says the CSI effect proves that a “show me what’s possible” message from the media can have tremendous impact.  There are now more female applicants than ever for this type of investigative work.

UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Canada’s Minister of State Lynne Yelich led the event, which focused on a new online network to help women find economic opportunities. They noted that there are still over 100 countries where women are at a legal disadvantage to men in terms of property rights, voting rights or other legal standing.

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