Duchess Sophie breaks royal silence on disturbing global crisis

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh has discussed an important topic on Wednesday.

During her visit to the Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, Sophie issued a heartfelt plea to confront the global crisis of sexual violence declaring: 'We must do better.'

Describing the issue as 'under-discussed' Sophie expressed her surprise upon learning that the British Royal Air Force only banned the practice of painting scantily-clad women on the front of their fighter planes in 2007.

She also recalled her 2019 visit to Kosovo, sharing a story of woman whose marriage ended after she revealed to her husband that she was a rape survivor.

The duchess stated, "I met a woman in Kosovo. A number of years ago there was a programme on what had happened [there] and the numbers they estimated of the women who had been raped."

"She told me how her husband had been so empathetic and he had been horrified [about the statistics] because they didn't know. And because he had been so empathetic and saying this was just so awful that she felt brave enough to admit to him that she had been one of them. And that was the end of her marriage," Sophie continued.

She went on to add that "this is the problem. It's the legacy."

"And unless we as a society help, we have to help people understand that they are not the ones who have the shame. It is not their lives who should be destroyed. We have to do better," duchess Sophie noted.

The Duchess of Edinburgh said that justice remains elusive for many victims, adding, "It's a tiny scratch on the surface… but it's important to recognize this at the highest level."

"It's a privilege. If we could all do ourselves out of a job—it would be great," Sophie added about the sustained awareness.