First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s strong words Tuesday at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women were timely and appropriate.

Though China, possibly the worst violator of women’s rights, is hosting the conference, Clinton didn’t shy away from blasting the Chinese practices of forced abortions and sterilizations.

She told the conference: “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.”

Clinton took a hard-line stance against war-time rape, the Indian practice of genital mutilation of women and domestic violence in the United States and across the globe.

The first lady’s remarks come in the wake of the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States.

At a time when such blatant gender discrimination may seem obvious to most Americans, women are still inexcusably abused and regarded as second-class citizens in many third world countries.

Clinton correctly asserts that we must “break the silence” surrounding discrimination against women.

Her comments are a painful reminder of how little progress some parts of the world have made toward equality.