It feels like a terrible time to be a woman right now. With spikings, the disturbing case of Sarah Everard’s murderer committed by a police officer looming over us, and the killings of women like Sabina Nessa, it’s hard not to feel afraid all the time.
That’s why it felt particularly supportive to have a member of the Royal Family like Camilla speak wholeheartedly at the Shame! festival yesterday. During the festival, which aims to end violence against women and girls (VAWG), and create a society that’s equal of all genders, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla has paid tribute to the women lost to violence this year, saying they must never be forgotten.
The Duchess asked the audience to join her in paying tribute to the "precious lives that have been brutally ended" and urged society "to do everything we can" to end violence against women, but she put particular emphasis on men’s need to step up.
In a beautifully spoken speech, she stressed the importance of men taking responsibility saying "men must do more to tackle sexual violence."
"We do not, in any way, hold all men responsible for sexual violence. But we do need them all on board to tackle it. After all, rapists are not born, they are constructed.”
"And it takes an entire community – male and female – to dismantle the lies, words and actions that foster a culture in which sexual assault is seen as normal, and in which it shames the victim.
"So let us all leave here today and try and get the men in our lives to participate in building a shameless society."
Camilla is not usually known for making huge media appearances or getting heavily involved in politics, but considering women's distrust of police and government officials, and the 'not all men' bigrade filling Twitter with doubts about sexual assault's while we're desperately trying to stop it, her incredibly impassioned speech has come at a perfect time. Is she becoming the most outspoken female in the Royal Family?
Other women in the Royal family have shown their support for the safety of women and the end of male violence, along with other important causes. The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, was filmed attending Sarah Everard's vigil back last year and laying flowers for her.
But Camilla has been a very vocal supporter of anti-VAWG causes more recently. Just last month, she became a patron of Nigeria's first sexual assault referral centre. She also spoke out on her wishes for more young people to be educated about osteoporosis - a condition her mother suffered from that weakens the bones - and how to prevent it.
Camilla also covered sexual harassment at the festival last night, an often overlooked but integral element of sexual violence that 97% of women in the UK have experienced, according to one study. She said that by speaking out about sexual harassment, we will help to reduce feelings of shame and educate others. Again, she stressed the importance of more men getting involved in this movement, as well as women.
Laying out her vision for a world free of violence towards women, Camilla listed the names of women who were recently murdered. "Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Wenjing Lin, Geetika Goyal and Bennylyn Burke are names which, with all the others, must never be forgotten," Camilla said. "This country has been appalled and saddened by the loss of women to violence this year,” she continued, highlighting that, on average, one woman is killed by a man every three days.
She also read out parts of the heartwrenching, important impact statement Sarah Everard's mother read in court, during the sentencing of Wayne Couzens.
Breaking the stigma of shame that women often feel after an assault is something Camilla demanded we also address as a nation. A particularly important feat as 20% of women over the age of 16 has experienced sexual assault in just England and Wales alone.
Studies have shown that most women feel false guilt and self-blame after experiencing sexual assault - an unfortunately common ramification. Some research says the feeling of fear which is present during the act itself is replaced by guilt and self-blame, which may linger for years and hinder a full emotional recovery - most likely because women have been raised in a sexist society, and encouraged to look for their own actions to blame. This only exposes that the problem is deep-rooted, embedded and systemic.
As the Duchess of Cornwall rightly said, "How many more women must be harassed, raped or murdered before we truly unite to forge a violence-free world?" And forge, we must.