Jacinda Ardern Is Leading by Following No One - The New York Times

Jacinda Ardern Is Leading by Following No One - The New York Times





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IN HER WORDS

Jacinda Ardern Is Leading by Following No One

In the wake of a mass shooting, New Zealand’s prime minister has drawn international praise for mixing empathy with swift, concrete action.



By Maya Salam
March 22, 2019








You’re reading In Her Words, where women rule the headlines. Sign uphere to get it delivered to your inbox. Let me know what you think at dearmaya@nytimes.com.

“It takes strength to be an empathetic leader.”

— Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, of New Zealand, who’s been guiding her country through a crisis after a mass shooting last week


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In the hours after the shooting, she wore a black head scarf while comforting victims’ families, embracing and grieving alongside them.

When President Trump asked her what he could to to help, she responded: “Sympathy and love for all Muslim communities.”


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And on Wednesday, just six days after a man gunned down worshipers in two New Zealand mosques, killing 50, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a swift gesture: banning military-style semiautomatic weapons.

“We are one, they are us,” she said of her country’s Muslims, many of whom are migrants or refugees. That unifying cry has become a symbol of her response.

In the aftermath of the massacre, Ardern has strayed from the usual post-attack script — drawing international praise for her ability to mix empathy with concrete action, shaping her path as a compassionate but defiant and decisive leader.


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Ardern, 38, the youngest female world leader, “has set high benchmarks for messaging and leadership during this crisis,” Sushil Aaron, a New Zealand-based journalist, wrote in a Times Op-Ed this week.

Her plan for immediate policy changes “stands in stark contrast to the stalemate and resistance to change that has stymied similar calls for restrictions on firearms in the United States,” Damien Cave, The Times’s Sydney bureau chief, and Charlotte Graham-McLay reportedfrom Christchurch, where the attack took place.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern consoles a woman at a mosque in Wellington, New Zealand.CreditTVNZ, via Associated Press





ImagePrime Minister Jacinda Ardern consoles a woman at a mosque in Wellington, New Zealand. CreditTVNZ, via Associated Press


In her address to Parliament this week, Ardern opened with the Arabic greeting “as-salamu alaykum,” meaning “peace be upon you.”

She continued by calling the shooting a terrorist act — and by refusing to speak the suspected shooter’s name. “He is a terrorist,” she said of the man, who had espoused white supremacist ideology. “He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.”

Meanwhile, Ardern confirmed that victims and their families would receive financial assistance from the New Zealand government, and she called for a global effort to eradicate right-wing extremism.

“We cannot think about this in terms of boundaries,” she said.

It didn’t take long for leaders across party lines and around the world to recognize and applaud Ardern’s approach.


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She “has won the hearts of Pakistanis for her compassion and for her leadership,” Mohammad Faisal, the spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, wrote on Twitter. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, recalledthat, in a visit to his city last year, Ardern had stressed “the importance of inclusivity and equality in society.”

Even Judith Collins, a New Zealand politician and an opponent of Ardern’s party, called the prime minister’s work “outstanding” and praised her for wearing a head scarf.

“It is a mark of respect,” Collins said. “I thought it was the right thing to do.”

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What else is happening

Here are five articles from The Times you might have missed.

The lumberjills harvested vast amounts of timber used in wartime infrastructure. Circa 1942.CreditThe New York Times





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The lumberjills harvested vast amounts of timber used in wartime infrastructure. Circa 1942.CreditThe New York Times



“Women with axes.” During WWII, lumberjills were Rosie the Riveter’s counterparts across the Atlantic. They harvested timber for telegraph poles, rails for D-Day splashdowns and the pit props that bulwarked vital British coal mines. [Read the story]


“When I was coming up, there were very few women in leadership positions, and very few women of color.” The top ranks of American theater have long been occupied by white men. That’s changing. [Read the story]


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“First: Sandra Day O’Connor.” A new book offers an intimate portrait of O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court. [Read the story]


“The real solution is to properly punish these crimes.” Serial sex offenders are a big problem on New York City subways. Should they be banned for life? [Read the story]

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#31DaysofWomen: Isabella Goodwin, New York City’s first female police detective

In a New York Times article in 1912, Goodwin said she was proud to “show just what a woman can do when the chance comes her way.”CreditThe New York Times





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In a New York Times article in 1912, Goodwin said she was proud to “show just what a woman can do when the chance comes her way.”CreditThe New York Times

Isabella Goodwin was New York City’s first female police detective. She went undercover in 1912 to expose a bank robber who went by Eddie (The Boob) Kinsman. With that, Goodwin became known as “the best known woman sleuth in the United States.”

By the 1920s, she was helping to oversee the newly created Women’s Bureau, which handled cases involving sex workers, runaways, truants and victims of domestic violence. Today, women detectives make up around 2 percent of New York City’s 36,500-member police force. Learn more about Isabella Goodwin here.

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