Panelists at the American Center Agreed on Persisting Gender Inequality in Economic Sphere

March 8, 2011

Panelists: Dr. Lindsay Kaplan, Monika Ladmanová, Czeslaw Walek, Jana Smiggels Kavková a Jana Šmídová

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day panelists have identified wage disparities; unequal gender representation in politics, science and management; and domestic violence as the most challenging women’s issues in the Czech Republic and the United States.  The discussion entitled “Women’s Leadership in Global World” was organized by the NGO Open Society Fund Prague in cooperation with the OSF Prague Center ProEquality, and the U.S. Embassy in Prague on March 8th, 2011 at the American Center.  

Dr. Lindsay Kaplan, U.S. Ambassador Eisen’s spouse, opened the panel discussion. “International Women’s Day is not widely celebrated in the U.S., while it certainly has a negative connotation here from its promotion during the Communist era.  Furthermore, as the feminist movement was taking off in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s, a very different process was occurring in Czechoslovakia.  Accordingly, this disproportionately affected the level of discourse on women’s rights, as well as its perception amongst the general population,” said Dr. Kaplan in her remarks (you can read the full version here).

Also participating were Czech Women’s vice-chair Jana Smiggels Kavková, IBM manager Monika Ladmanová, Czeslaw Walek, former Director of the Office of the Government Human Rights Unit and Škoda Auto Company PR director Radek Špicar.