Page "Purim" Paragraph 31

Women have an obligation to hear the Megillah because " they also were involved in that miracle.

" Most Orthodox communities, including Modern Orthodox ones, however, generally do not allow women to lead the Megillah reading except in rare circumstances owing to the notion of " Kavod HaTzibbur ".

Authorities who hold that women should not read the Megilla for themselves, because of an uncertainty as to which blessing they should recite upon the reading, nonetheless agree that they have an obligation to hear it read.

According to these authorities if women, or men for that matter, cannot attend the services in the synagogue, the Megillah should be read for them in private by any male over the age of thirteen.

Often in Orthodox communities there is a special public reading only for women, conducted either in a private home or in a synagogue, but the Megillah is read by a man.