“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” That was Hillary Clinton’s memorable statement about gender equality at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. To mark the 20th anniversary of the event, UN Women has launched the initiative Beijing+20, focusing each month on one of the 12 areas of concern for women, as identified at the 1995 conference. This month marks an examination on women in the media, for which the organization assembled a group of experts in the field (including Arianna Huffington, Tina Brown, Robbie Myers, and the Cut’s own Ann Friedman) to share their thoughts. An event at the General Assembly this September will examine the question in more detail. In the meantime, the statistics they’ve released paint a picture of severe underrepresentation, both among members of the media and in terms of the subjects they cover.
