The beauty queen of Ukraine has been denied the title - just because she's a mother
Veronica Didosenko was supposed to represent Ukraine in the Miss World Competition and now the 24-year-old model, who is also a mother of a 5-year-old, has started a legal battle for the "right to motherhood" and to change the rules: "Why shouldn't a girl only participate because she is a mother? Makes sense"
The beauty queen of Ukraine has been denied the title - just because she's a mother
Veronika.missukraine2018Veronica Didosenko won the Miss Ukraine title in 2018 and was to represent her country in the Miss World competition. Only four days later, however, the title was taken away - after the competition managers found out that she was a mother of a 5-year-old - which is prohibited by the rules of the beauty pageant in Ukraine.
This move sparked a wave of criticisms around the world after learning that her winnings had been canceled. Didosenko said in an interview on the BBC radio show that she knew there was a ban on mothers participating in the competition, but explained that the organizers of the beauty pageant encouraged her to cope anyway. "Why should a girl get a restraining order just because she is a mother? It makes no sense in any way," said the 24-year-old model.
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To the full articleThe post Veronica published ahead of the Miss World pageant this week
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Dear friends, I am happy to share the exciting news with you. Today #righttobeamother has made a huge leap forward. I have launched a legal challenge against @MissWorld and this marks the new phase in our joint fight for justice. ⠀ I am proud to be represented by Ravi Naik, Human Rights Lawyer of the Year 2018, and Leading Counsel Marie Demitriou QC. Ravi represents clients in some of the world's most high profile cases. This includes the first case against #CambridgeAnalytica for political profiling and claims against Facebook for their data practices. Marie Demitriou was a barrister on the legal team acting for South African athlete Caster Semenya who was subjected to sex testing following her victory at the 2009 World Championships. ⠀ We say that under the #EqualityAct 2010 the entry policy operated by #MissWorld is discriminatory on various grounds, namely marital status, and pregnancy and maternity. The Equality Act protects against discrimination based on certain characteristics, including marriage, maternity and sex. The reason I was not allowed to compete in Miss World after winning the #MissUkraine title is because I had been married and have a child. Denying me the chance of competing on those bases breaches those protections against discrimination. ⠀ I don't want the crown back. I want to get the rules changed for wider society. These rules are a systemic, widespread and international policy that results in large-scale discrimination across many countries. ⠀ This year the 69th Miss World Final returns to London on December 14, 2019. We believe it is the right moment for @MissWorld to introduce the change. ⠀ Am I really happy to see that our story has resonated with the UK national media such as @dailymail, @telegraph, @thesun, @skynews, @thetimes, @bbcnews, @bbcnewsbeat, @dailymirror? ⠀ Photo credit: David McHugh / Brighton Pictures
A post shared by Veronika Didusenko (@veronika_didusenko) on Nov 30, 2019 at 7:08 am PST
According to competition rules, "A woman who has given birth or is pregnant should not participate in the competition." But Veronica is not going to give up easily and is now planning legal proceedings in the hope that the competition organizers will change their policy prohibiting mothers from participating. Last week, Davidenko posted to Instagram, shortly before the Miss World pageant on December 14 in London, in which she tried to send a message to mothers around the world.
"Today's motherhood rights have made a huge step forward," she wrote, "I have opened legal proceedings against the Miss World competition and this marks a new stage in our fight for justice." In this post, Didosenko added that she does not want her crown back, but she demands "that the laws change and include a wider population." Veronica's members hope the fight will help and the laws will change "not for her, but for the wider population."
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A post shared by Veronika Didusenko (@veronika_didusenko) on Jul 9, 2019 at 10:38 am PDT
Maintains fitness
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A post shared by Veronika Didusenko (@veronika_didusenko) on Jul 23, 2019 at 7:44 am PDT
And modeling
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A post shared by Veronika Didusenko (@veronika_didusenko) on Oct 16, 2019 at 8:30 am PDT