Zara McDermott meets Queen Consort Camilla to raise awareness of violence against women
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Zara McDermott received a royal welcome on Tuesday when she met Queen Consort Camilla at Buckingham Palace.
Camilla, 75, held the event in London today to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, as part of the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The Love Island star, 25, was one of about 300 people, including survivors and their families, as well as famous faces including TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, Spice Girl Mel B and First Lady Olena Zelenska of Ukraine.
Honour: Zara McDermott received a royal welcome on Tuesday when she met Queen Consort Camilla at Buckingham Palace
Zara has been candid about her efforts and campaigns to end the scourge of “revenge porn.”
She exuded sophistication in an elegant form-fitting black dress with a jewel-encrusted collar.
The reality star added a few extra inches of height to her frame with a pair of black high heels.
Zara wore her long blonde locks in loose waves and parted to the side as she talked to Camilla.
Important: Camilla, 75, held the event in London today to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, as part of the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence
Zara welcomes moves to make it a criminal offense for people to threaten to share nude, sexual or explicit photos from someone else’s videos without their consent.
Speaking of her experience in September 2020, she said, “I have been a victim of revenge porn, or what is called image-based sexual abuse, twice in my life.
“Particularly when I came out of Love Island and came out with images of me, what felt like, circulating around the world. It was one of the hardest things I’ve experienced in my entire life.
“I think telling someone never to send a picture of themselves or a video or do anything in a relationship in a digital way.
“It is quite naive to ask someone to do it because we are currently living in a huge digital age, it will only become more productive in society.
“So I think trying to do it safely is a really interesting concept to think about and something I’ve thought about a lot, how do you educate people safely?
“And also educating people who would share the footage about the implications of their actions and let them know it’s illegal and an offense, I think a lot could change.”
Courageous: Zara has been candid about her efforts and campaign to end the scourge of ‘revenge porn’
Camilla said in her speech that “we unite today to confront, rightly so, what is rightly termed a global pandemic of violence against women.”
She added, “In my previous position over the years I had the privilege of meeting many survivors of rape and domestic violence; and to share in the grief of those who have lost family members to violence.
“And time and time again I’ve heard that remembering and listening are two of the most powerful ways to help.”
The royal continued: “We remember those women who lost their lives at the hands of a stranger, or of the person who should have loved them most.
‘With this we refuse to become insensitive to cold facts and figures and we decide to keep the names and memories of these women alive.
Outspoken: Zara has welcomed moves to make it a criminal offense for people to threaten to share nude, sexual or explicit photos or videos of another person without their consent (pictured outside Parliament Square in London)
We remember Brenda Blainey, Mariam Kamara, Lucy Powell, Samantha Drummonds, Yasmin Begum, Sally Turner, Hina Bashir, Jillu Nash and her 12-year-old daughter Louise, just to name a few of those who died this year. alone.
And we remember – because we can’t forget – all the other women and girls who died in similar horrific circumstances.
These women, tragically, can no longer speak for themselves. But we listen to those who can.
“I’ve learned from my conversations with these brave survivors that what they want most of all is to be listened to and believed, to prevent the same thing from happening to others.
“They know there is power in their stories and that by telling the victims of their history, they become the authors of their own future.”
Guests: The Love Island star, 25, was one of about 300 people, including survivors and their families, as well as famous faces including TV host Lorraine Kelly, Spice Girl Mel B and First Lady Olena Zelenska of Ukraine