On Tuesday afternoon, the State Department hosted the 2025 International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards ceremony with special guests Secretary of State Marco Rubio and First Lady Melania Trump, who received a roaring standing ovation. (By the way, I love how every time the mainstream media starts calling Mrs. Trump “absent” from the role of first lady, she pops up and does something noteworthy.)
Both the secretary and first lady spoke before handing out awards to eight women from around the globe who have “demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership – often at great personal risk and sacrifice.”
Rubio spoke on how much Donald Trump has done for women, citing that during the president’s first term female unemployment was at its lowest in 50 years and his signing of the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a bipartisan “first law passed by any country anywhere in the world” that promoted women and their participation in society.
Mrs. Trump’s speech’s themes were love and courage, and she spoke “to the women who are driven to speak out for justice, even though their voices are trembling; to the women who are motivated to rise up for the community when others remain indifferent; to the women who feel compelled to heal wounds caused by hatred and cherish peace.”
.@FLOTUS delivers remarks at the 19th annual International Women of Courage Award Ceremony:
“Throughout my life, I have harnessed the power of love as a source of strength during challenging times… Today, we celebrate courage: a strength that is based in love.” pic.twitter.com/vWWWLYW9jH
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 1, 2025
“Their courage propels us forward by advocating to end violence against women and girls, promoting democratic governments, defending human rights, championing education, and fighting injustice. Through their efforts, they instigate progress for all of humanity,” she added.
And because I can’t help myself and because we’re allowed to actually act like women again, I have to mention that I loved her leopard print Milly Park jacket, though I personally would have gone with something a little more spring-like.
First Lady Melania Trump looked fierce in leopard print today for the 19th annual International Women of Courage Award Ceremony.
Our FLOTUS is wearing a beautiful leopard print coat by Milly Park Collection with black Manolo Blahnik pumps. 🐆🖤#FashionoftheFirstLady pic.twitter.com/YPpdWoKHSm
— FLOTUS Report (@MELANIAJTRUMP) April 1, 2025
The IWOC Awards were started by Condoleezza Rice during her time as secretary of State: “Since 2007, the Department of State has recognized more than 200 women from over 90 countries with the IWOC Award. U.S. diplomatic missions overseas nominate one woman of courage from their respective host countries, and finalists are selected and approved by senior Department officials.”
The eight women had some fascinating and impressive backgrounds. The only one who spoke was Amit Soussana of Israel, a former Hamas hostage who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023. An attorney, Soussana is an outspoken advocate for other hostages and survivors and has used “her own lived example to describe the trauma she suffered,” which included extensive sexual abuse.
“In captivity, I had no control over my body, no control over my life. I resisted as best as I could, but it was not enough to stop what happened to me. The darkness was suffocating, yet even in the darkness, there was one thing they could not have taken from me: the strength my mother instilled in me, the belief that we must always stand for what is right no matter the cost,” she said during her speech.
Another one of the honorees was Georgiana Pascu of Romania, an advocate for people with disabilities who works toward their de-institutionalization. Mrs. Trump focused on Pascu during her speech, saying, “Georgiana is a watchdog who defends the dignity of Romanians whose voices can’t be heard. She fearlessly enters facilities designated as care centers to rescue people with disabilities who are unwittingly held captive. In fact, Georgiana usually shows up announced and discovers the unimaginable, helpless adults and children bound, sedated, starving, and in extreme cases, dying. Thanks to Georgiana’s brave work, dozens of offenders have been charged with human trafficking, exploitation, and even organized crime.”
The other women honored included Henriette Da, a human rights advocate in Burkina Faso; Major Velena Iga, a woman who fights against human trafficking and modern slavery in Papua New Guinea; Angelique Songco , aka “Mama Ranger,” a woman from the Philippines who leads the rangers who protect the important Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park from illegal fishing and poaching; Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj, president of the Abductees’ Mothers Association in Yemen; Zabib; Musa Loro Bakhit, a women’s rights leader in South Sudan; and Namini Wijedasa, a journalist from Sri Lanka who has risked her life to chronicle the human toll of Sri Lanka’s civil conflict.
However, the event was not without controversy, or, at least, potential controversy. At the end of the ceremony, there was a brief mention of the “Madeleine Albright Honorary Group Award” going to the Women Student Protest Leaders of Bangladesh. Some feel that this group isn’t worthy of any sort of honor from the United Sates because of its potential ties to Islamist extremists. Journalist Lara Logan, who was invited to be a guest at the event, even suggested that someone at the State Department chose the group purposely to undermine and embarrass the Trump administration, Rubio, and the first lady.
While I will admit that Bangladesh is not my area of expertise in any way, shape, or form, I could not find a clear connection myself. I reached out to the State Department, but it has not responded to my request for a comment.
I did, however, talk to our resident Islam and jihad expert, Robert Spencer, and he had this to say: “The problem with honoring the Bangladeshi women’s group is that the revolution in Bangladesh was an Islamic jihad. Jihadis carried it out and are now instituting an Islamic state there. If this women’s group was involved in toppling the last government and imposing the new one, it is extremely unlikely that the women in it are Jeffersonian Democrats. Melania shouldn’t have honored them, but she is not singular in this: no one in either party knows anything about jihad in Washington.”
If I do hear from the State Department or find out more about this potential controversy, I’ll be sure to report on it. But for now, I’m just going to go read up on some of the other women who were honored.
