I think it's a universal problem, women, men, you name it. Hell, even motorcyclists... everyone who rocks a Sena or what have you and talks to the wife or makes phone calls while riding is just as distracted as any car driver who talks on the phone. It's not the holding of the phone that's the problem, it's splitting your attention between traffic and talking.
Though that said, I think women care far less about driving in general, to them it's exclusively a way to get from point A to point B, so many women are just worse drivers in general, most likely.
Texting, obviously, is a whole different level of the problem, but just talking is also an issue. It will lead directly to higher reflex times, so if you're babbling away, you'll take longer to take evasive action in a crisis.