They blazed trails, set new records, called out injustice and faced down oppression: FRANCE 24 takes a look at the inspirational women who shaped the past 12 months.
The year 2021 saw female athletes scale new heights at the Tokyo Olympics and press their demands for equality in sports, while Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai was at the heart of the biggest #MeToo scandal to rock the country’s political establishment.
There were new faces and emotional departures in politics, with Tunisia’s Najla Bouden becoming the Arab world’s first woman prime minister, even as Europe bid farewell to its most powerful female politician for the past 16 years, Germany’s Angela Merkel.
The dark side of social media was in the spotlight as US whistleblower Frances Haugen dealt a stinging blow to Facebook and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa exposed the ravages wrought by fake news and disinformation in her native Philippines.
In France, skipper Clarisse Cremer smashed the women’s world record for a solo round-the-world race and Jazz Age icon Josephine Baker became the first Black woman to enter the country’s Panthéon of heroes.
But it was a grim year for Afghan women, who defiantly resisted as the Taliban swept back into power – at a terrible cost.
In chronological order, FRANCE 24 takes a look at some of the women who helped shape world events in 2021.
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Clarisse Cremer, around the world in record time
On February 3, French skipper Clarisse Cremer triumphantly sailed into the port of Les Sables d’Olonne, in western France, having smashed the women’s record for a solo…
Source : france24
