Clinton talks Putin, Malala talks Iran at Variety's Power of Women Gala

The event is held to mark the achievements of women across society, including politics, entertainment and philanthropy.

But as protests grip Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and demonstrators clash with authorities, former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she was impressed by Iranian women protesting.

“The regime there can only stay in power by limiting the rights of everyone, but particularly oppressing women. That is one of their justifications based falsely on theocracy. And I'm very impressed by and proud of the Iranians, particularly the Iranian women who are in the streets, who are throwing off the hijab, because that should be a choice, not a mandate, and who are speaking up for their rights. And I just hope that they're able to create enough space so that they are given much more opportunity to live full lives as free as possible,” Clinton told Reuters.

Her sentiments were echoed by Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who came to the world’s attention after being shot by a Taliban gunman in retaliation for campaigning in favour of girls’ education.

“Women's rights are still denied in so many parts of the world. And it's the simple and basic right of deciding what to wear. It should be a woman's decision, what she chooses to wear. She should not be told, you know, wear a hijab or don't wear a hijab. She should not be told that you know, that it's up to the state to decide how she should dress”, Malala told Reuters, adding: “I really admire the work that women are doing right now. They're standing up for their right. And I hope that their voices are heard. And it is just amazing. I'm really in awe of their courage and bravery.”

Aside from Iran, Clinton also had scathing words about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the situation currently playing out in Ukraine.

“I am encouraged by what we're seeing in Ukraine now because it's clear that Putin is desperate. This mobilization that he announced is backfiring. Several hundred thousand Russian men have fled Russia. Others are avoiding being drafted. And sadly, the ones who are being rounded up are being sent to the front with little to no training, little to no equipment," she said, adding: 'This has to end, and the best way to end it is to defeat him."

Ava DuVernay was one of the entertainment world’s big attendees of the night. The filmmaker, producer and publicist is seen as one of the leading black women behind the scenes in Hollywood and is a fierce champion of women in key roles in the industry. Her series, ‘Queen Sugar\, which was Executive Producer by Oprah Winfrey employed 42 female directors over the course of its seven seasons. For her, the pace of change in Hollywood towards putting women in top roles needs to be faster:

“Hopefully, little by little, you start to infect people with that idea of more kinds and cultures and colours of people being at the table. And if we don't, then folks are going to go out and build their own tables as we did”, DuVernay told Reuters.

Away from politics, Chelsea Clinton stood next to her mother to talk about how much their latest TV project, ‘Gutsy,’ which they worked on together, put women at the heart of it. The show sees the pair go on adventures with what Apple TV calls ‘some of the world’s boldest and bravest women’:

“I knew that it would be meaningful work to be able to kind of take our platform and give the chance to share and amplify stories of women. We're also very proud that all of our directors for each episode of ‘Gutsy’ on Apple TV Plus is a women. Our showrunner's a woman. Our chief grip was a woman. Most of our camera and sound light people were women. So it was not only about the stories we were telling, it was how we were telling them. And also there was a lot of fun. So when you say it was sort of double the gutsiness, it also was double the fun,” she said.

But there’s still a lot of work to be done for women too, said actress Fran Drescher:

“There are areas where women are really making great strides. And then there are things like Roe v Wade reversing. And you wonder, what universe are we living in that anybody in their right mind can think they can legislate a woman's body?” she said.

Reuters