Reality royalty at the palace! Duchess of Cornwall is joined by Love Island’s Zara McDermott and Priti Patel as she hosts reception to mark the 50th anniversary of domestic violence charity Refuge at Clarence House
- Camilla, 74, joined by Priti Patel and Zara McDermott at Clarence House today
- Reality star Zara has become advocate for tackling sexism among young people
- Duchess later visited a Refuge centre to see their emergency accommodation
The Duchess of Cornwall today hosted a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of domestic violence charity Refuge.
Camilla, 74, who is a longtime advocate for victims of domestic abuse, was joined by Home Secretary Priti Patel at Clarence House for the reception this afternoon.
The royal also met reality star Zara McDermott, who has become an advocate for tackling sexism among young people after opening up about her experiences with sexual assault and revenge porn in a BBC documentary.
Appearing alongside Refuge chair, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, and domestic abuse campaigner Erica Osakwe, the royal met Refuge ambassadors, trustees and survivors of domestic abuse.
The Duchess of Cornwall met reality star Zara McDermott as she hosted a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of domestic violence charity Refuge
Appearing alongside Refuge chair, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, and domestic abuse campaigner Erica Osakwe, the royal met Refuge ambassadors, trustees and survivors of domestic abuse
Camilla, 74, who is a longtime advocate for victims of domestic abuse, was joined by Home Secretary Priti Patel at Clarence House for the reception this afternoon
The Duchess, who delivered a speech to guests at the event, later visited a Refuge centre to see the emergency accommodation provided to women fleeing domestic abuse.
Leading charity Refuge provide various essential services for women including refuges, independent advocacy, community outreach projects and the 24 hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline.
Since stepping into the public eye, former Love Island star Zara, 24, has been vocal about issues faced by young women today – recently fronting a BBC Three documentary about sexism and rape culture in Britain.
She opened up about a sexual assault where she was ‘almost raped’ while walking home in broad daylight, only escaping when a group of adults saw the attack and came to help.
The royal met reality star Zara, 24, who has become an advocate for tackling sexism among young people after opening up about her own experiences with revenge porn and sexual assault
The Home Secretary appeared in high spirits as she attended the event to celebrate 50 years of the leading domestic violence charity
The Home Secretary, who has been instrumental in introducing changes in UK law benefiting domestic abuse victims, was seen deep in conversation with the royal
The reality star also fronted the highly-acclaimed documentary Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn in which she detailed her two revenge porn ordeals.
The Home Secretary has been instrumental in introducing changes in UK law which allows victims of domestic abuse more time to report incidents of common assault or battery against them.
Changes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill earlier this month mean prosecutions will be able to take place six months from the date the incident is reported to the police – with an overall time limit of two years from the offence to bring a prosecution.
Currently, prosecutions must commence within six months of the offence.
The Duchess, who delivered a speech to guests at the event, later visited a Refuge centre to see the emergency accommodation provided to women fleeing domestic abuse
Camilla has long advocated for more specialist support for victims of domestic abuse, becoming the patron for charity SafeLives in 2020
Priti Patel was in high spirits as she celebrated the charity’s 50th anniversary at Clarence House this afternoon
Camilla was all smiles as she met leading figures in women’s advocacy while marking 50 years of leading domestic abuse charity Refuge
Responding to the news that the government intends to extend the time survivors of domestic abuse have to report common assault, Ruth Davison, Refuge CEO, said the charity was ‘delighted’.
‘As Refuge we work with women every day who know just how hard it can be to report domestic abuse – they might not yet have fled their perpetrator, they may fear repercussions, or they might not yet have processed the assault they experienced. Couple that with trust in police being at an all-time low, means the conditions for survivors to come forward is incredibly challenging.’
She added: ‘This amendment, when it comes into practice, will make an enormous difference to survivors of domestic abuse and will help offer much greater protection to women and girls.’
Camilla has long advocated for more specialist support for victims of domestic abuse, becoming the patron for charity SafeLives in 2020.
Camilla was deep in conversation with reality star Zara, who has been vocal about issues faced by young women today since stepping into the public eye
Camilla, pictured posing with guests at the reception, later visited a Refuge centre to see the emergency accommodation provided to women fleeing domestic abuse
The Duchess, who is a longtime advocate for victims of domestic abuse, is pictured posing for a photograph with guests of the reception this afternoon
The royal, who previously expressed fear that the coronavirus pandemic would have a ‘horrific’ impact on the levels of abuse, recently opened up about the very personal effect witnessing domestic abuse has had on her.
Speaking to the Telegraph at a women’s refuge in Reading, Berkshire, Camilla spoke passionately about the fact many of us across Britain will know domestic abuse victims.
‘Well I think if you’ve known somebody then it really does hit home’, she said. ‘You feel “goodness, this is probably going on under my nose and I didn’t know about it”.
‘And that makes you feel guilty, in a way, that you weren’t there to help at the time you were probably most needed.’
‘I’ve certainly known people who have suffered… suffered from it. You think “oh well, domestic abuse means that somebody’s hit you occasionally when you’ve had a row or somebody’s gone too far”.
‘But you’ve got no idea what really goes on in most relationships.’
Source: Read Full Article