First Lady Jill Biden Honors Women Around the World
2021-03-09
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1First lady Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, helped the U.S. State Department honor 21 women for their "courage" and "intentional decisions" in 2020.
2The women were recognized with the 2021 International Women of Courage Award.
3The honors were presented virtually because of the coronavirus health crisis.
4Seven of those honored, all from Afghanistan, had died recently.
5Among them were a reporter, a woman who helped mothers in childbirth, a democracy activist, a police officer and a general who worked to fight kidnapping.
6Many of them were killed by people who targeted them for their work.
7Fourteen other women from around the world were honored for their work in many fields.
8One, Maria Kalesnikava, is in prison in Belarus for her support of democracy and her opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko.
9Another, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, works to make connections between young people of different ethnic and religious groups in Myanmar.
10She was in prison for over a year after she was arrested at a protest march in 2015.
11Wang Yu of China was honored for her work as a human rights lawyer.
12She is not permitted to leave the country.
13She spent time in prison for representing activists, scholars and others on women's rights and freedom of expression cases.
14Julienne Lusenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo is an activist for women and girls.
15She works to stop gender-based violence. She has helped shape policy in her home country and around the world.
16She helped with the United Nations' decision to recognize sexual violence as a weapon of war.
17During the presentation, Biden said the women "are fighting for their own lives and for their children.
18They want to right the wrongs of our past..."
19She said each of the women made an important decision to choose to be courageous and fight for ideas they believed in "despite the obstacles and fear they faced."
20Biden said that the U.S. is making a choice to support women around the world.
21She said the U.S. will "lift up the women and girls everywhere who light our way."
22Some of the other women, who Biden said fought "for something bigger than themselves," were:
23Erika Lorena Aifan, a judge in Guatemala who deals with threats of violence while working on corruption and war crimes cases.
24Shohreh Bayat was a chess judge from Iran.
25She was photographed without her head covering while working at the Women's Chess World Championship last year.
26The Iranian Chess Federation said she might not be able to safely return to her country without apologizing.
27She refused and is now living as a refugee in Britain without her husband, who has not been able to get permission to be with her.
28 Muskan Khatun worked to make new laws against acid attacks on women in her home country of Nepal.
29She was a victim of an attack as a teenager after rejecting the romantic proposals of a boy.
30After meeting with Nepal's Prime Minister and requesting a strong law against these attacks, the country made rules limiting the sale of acid.
31 Stronger punishments for acid attacks were also put in place.
32Biden said the U.S. will work harder to stay connected with powerful and courageous women around the world.
33"We will stand with you as we build a brighter future for us all," she said.
34I'm Dan Friedell.
1First lady Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, helped the U.S. State Department honor 21 women for their "courage" and "intentional decisions" in 2020. 2The women were recognized with the 2021 International Women of Courage Award. The honors were presented virtually because of the coronavirus health crisis. 3Seven of those honored, all from Afghanistan, had died recently. Among them were a reporter, a woman who helped mothers in childbirth, a democracy activist, a police officer and a general who worked to fight kidnapping. Many of them were killed by people who targeted them for their work. 4Fourteen other women from around the world were honored for their work in many fields. One, Maria Kalesnikava, is in prison in Belarus for her support of democracy and her opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko. 5Another, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, works to make connections between young people of different ethnic and religious groups in Myanmar. She was in prison for over a year after she was arrested at a protest march in 2015. 6Wang Yu of China was honored for her work as a human rights lawyer. She is not permitted to leave the country. She spent time in prison for representing activists, scholars and others on women's rights and freedom of expression cases. 7Julienne Lusenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo is an activist for women and girls. She works to stop gender-based violence. She has helped shape policy in her home country and around the world. She helped with the United Nations' decision to recognize sexual violence as a weapon of war. 8During the presentation, Biden said the women "are fighting for their own lives and for their children. They want to right the wrongs of our past..." 9She said each of the women made an important decision to choose to be courageous and fight for ideas they believed in "despite the obstacles and fear they faced." 10Biden said that the U.S. is making a choice to support women around the world. She said the U.S. will "lift up the women and girls everywhere who light our way." 11Some of the other women, who Biden said fought "for something bigger than themselves," were: 12Erika Lorena Aifan, a judge in Guatemala who deals with threats of violence while working on corruption and war crimes cases. 13Shohreh Bayat was a chess judge from Iran. She was photographed without her head covering while working at the Womens Chess World Championship last year. The Iranian Chess Federation said she might not be able to safely return to her country without apologizing. She refused and is now living as a refugee in Britain without her husband, who has not been able to get permission to be with her. 14 Muskan Khatun worked to make new laws against acid attacks on women in her home country of Nepal. She was a victim of an attack as a teenager after rejecting the romantic proposals of a boy. After meeting with Nepals Prime Minister and requesting a strong law against these attacks, the country made rules limiting the sale of acid. Stronger punishments for acid attacks were also put in place. 15Biden said the U.S. will work harder to stay connected with powerful and courageous women around the world. "We will stand with you as we build a brighter future for us all," she said. 16I'm Dan Friedell. 17Darlene Superville wrote this story for the Associated Press. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 18Who are some women in your country who are practicing courage? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 19_______________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21courage -n. the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous 22virtual -adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet 23gender -n. the state of being male or female 24despite -prep. without being prevented by 25obstacle -n. something that makes it difficult to do something