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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in front of the podium, First lady Michelle Obama on the left with the awardees with Ms. Mani from Niger on the right.
Women's Courage Takes State Dept. Center Stage
The women who stood in a line next to her were each announced. They shook hands with Obama and Clinton or they hugged them, apparently depending on culture and comfort level. Hadizatou Mani of Niger, who was 12 when she was sold into slavery, held her hands together almost limply. Her head was covered by a white veil trimmed in yellow. She almost timidly held out her right hand to Obama.
Mani worked with a nongovernmental organization in her country to charge the government of Niger with failing to protect her under anti-slavery laws. "It was very difficult to challenge my former master and to speak out when people see you as nothing more than a slave," Mani told the British-based charitable organization Anti-Slavery International. "Nobody deserves to be enslaved. . . . No woman should suffer the way I did."
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| First lady Michelle Obama with Ms. Hadizatou Mani, awardee from Niger |
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| First lady Michelle Obama spook at the podium, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stand at the back with the "brave Women" |
