This week, leaders of nations from around the globe will convene in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting where Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff will be the first woman to deliver the opening address.
Rousseff's historic role in opening the gathering reflects the changing role of women in the world, a topic highlighted by Newsweek's cover story this week.
Within the report, Newsweek ranks 165 countries, looking at five areas that affect women's lives: treatment under the law, workforce participation, political power, and access to education and health care.
Today on American Morning, Jesse Ellison, senior writer at Newsweek, talks with Alina Cho about what countries are the best and worst places to be a woman and explains what's holding the U.S. back from ranking in the top five.
The United Nations has issued a new report on the "Progress of the World's Women" this morning, which highlights the progress that has been made in addressing women's rights around the world while simultaneously stressing that great inequality and injustice still exist.
Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women and former President of Chile, joins Kiran Chetry this morning to talk about the report's main findings and to stress the importance of female legislators.
(CNN) - Female workers suing retail giant Wal-Mart Stores for workplace discrimination faced an uphill battle at the Supreme Court Tuesday in their efforts to proceed in a massive class-action lawsuit. The case is among the most important case of its kind the justices have ever heard, and a ruling could eventually impact businesses large and small.
Betty Dukes, Plaintiff in class action suit against Wal-Mart, and Joseph Sellers, Co-Lead Counsel for Paintiffs, talk to Christine Romans about the case.
Eman al-Obeidy said she wanted the world to know about Gadhafi's brutal regime when she stormed into a hotel housing foreign journalists Saturday and told the reporters she had been raped by 15 militia men. But, as she tried to tell her story, al-Obeidy was quickly manhandled, and forced out of the building and into custody.
The incident begs questions about the treatment and role of women in Libya and the greater Muslim world. Mona Eltahawy, a columnist on Arab and Muslim issues, talks to American Morning about al-Obeidy's story and women's rights.
CBS News correspondent Lara Logan is recovering in a U.S. hospital after being sexually assaulted Friday in Tahrir Square.
Unfortunately, Logan's experience isn't unique; according to a 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, 83% of Cairo women and 98% of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed. Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian columnist and, since Logan's attack, has turned her Twitter account into a forum for discussion about women's rights in the Arab world and about the attack on Logan. Eltahawy speaks to American Morning's Kiran Chetry.
Maria Shriver hosts her last Women's Conference as First Lady of California this week. This morning, Shriver tells American Morning's Kiran Chetry her future plans and why New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof is a "man who gets it."
Other men who 'get it' slated to appear at this year's conference:
Brian Williams
Phil Knight, Co-Founder, Chairman, Nike Inc.
Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks Coffee Company
Do you agree? What other men do you think 'get it'?