Jessica Kutz

Gender, climate and sustainability reporter

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Content warning: This story contains graphic depictions of violence.

Last Tuesday should have been an ordinary workday for 20-year-old Amber Czech, who worked as a welder at a manufacturing facility in Cokato, Minnesota.

She loved her craft and taught welding at her old high school on days she had off. But she was also a rarity. Women make up just 6 percent of welders in the country, and, as with other male-dominated occupations, it came with the risk of isolation and bullying.

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It was a reality of the job that for Czech turned deadly. While she was at her work station that day, a man she worked with walked over to her, picked up

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