00:04As I said before, silence is corrosive because it leaves the victims feeling both shame and
00:13blame. I think I wanted to lift the shroud of the silence and get more women, children
00:21and men to talk about their experiences. It is happening in a slow way, but it's such
00:31a traumatic experience that I think it becomes sort of locked into a compartment inside them
00:37and it's very difficult to find the key to unlocking. But I think the more people, the
00:46more brave women I see getting up and speaking about their experiences, it inspires others.
00:52I think once they've heard some people talk about it, they think, ah, well, maybe I could
00:59do that too. In these centres, I've talked to a lot of women and girls and I said to them,
01:08would you be prepared to get up and say a few words? And they said, well, a few years
01:14ago, we wouldn't have thought about it. But now, you know, I think we could. And I think
01:19if we could tap into some of these women to get them, you know, on the radio, on the television
01:25to talk about it, I don't know, the whole taboo, I think, would be lifted. But it is happening.
01:32We were surrounded by wonderful people like Suzanne and Refuge and Women's Aid who are doing
01:38so much to help this. And the other thing, it can affect anybody. I don't think people
01:45realize from any strata in society. It doesn't matter who you are. I just want all these people
01:53to know that they're not alone and that there is help there. There's help out there. And,
01:59you know, let's, you know, train them to go and get this help. I think that's why I launched at
02:09WIRED this spring, probably the last time we all saw each other before we were locked down,
02:15hashtagged everyone's problem, because it is everybody's problem. And I think now we have to
02:19go on and find a solution.
02:24Ma'am, you're very committed to supporting Safe Lives and you've travelled all over the world
02:28with WOW and with other international events looking at women and girls situations.
02:34But I think I'm going to bring in Suzanne Jacobs, the CEO of Safe Lives at this point,
02:39because if I'm right, you've been plotting something together and you're going to use WOW 24 Global
02:43to make an announcement.
02:45Thank you, Jude. It has been the very best kind of plotting. I've enjoyed it hugely. I am fiercely proud
02:54and hugely honored to say that the Duchess of Cornwall, Her Royal Highness, has agreed to become
03:00our patron at Safe Lives. We made that invitation after a number of events that we've held together
03:08over the last four years. So we extended that invitation earlier this year and I'm absolutely delighted
03:14to say that she has accepted, which is a huge and exciting moment for us and really a powerful
03:24moment for all of the survivors that we work with, both those who've had a chance to meet the Duchess
03:30and those who have seen the pictures or read the newspaper articles that have followed. And the candor
03:37with which Her Royal Highness just spoke about this issue and the way that she speaks to people directly
03:45and really listens unravels some of the harm, the terrible harm that abusive people do to the people
03:54they're supposed to love the most. They tell them that they don't matter, that nobody cares about them,
03:58that nobody will believe them. And Her Royal Highness is making it absolutely clear that that is not true,
04:05that anybody who lives with an experience of domestic abuse is valuable, is going to be listened to.
04:13And I am so proud that we're going to have an ongoing relationship between Safe Lives and Her Royal Highness.
04:21Mum, it's marvellous news that you're going to use your voice strengthening this space even further.
04:25I know that Suzanne and the charity are immensely grateful and it's going to mean that you can carry on
04:31being a beacon of hope for people who really can't find visibility and aren't allowed to come out from the
04:37margins.
04:38Well, I personally, I want to say how proud I am to have become patron of Safe Lives.
04:46And Safe Lives will always stick in my memory from the first visit I paid there.
04:55Diana Barron, who was the founder of Safe Lives, asked a friend of hers if she'd asked me to come
05:00to
05:01to one of their meetings with, I think, half a dozen women who were talking about their experiences.
05:08And I arrived not quite knowing what to expect. And we all sat down in a circle, police, journalists,
05:17people with me. And we started to listen to the first lady speaking very candidly, very bravely.
05:27And I promise you, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. I mean, even the toughest men I could
05:35see with tears.
05:36We're all pretending that we've got a cold and blowing our noses. But the experience was so moving.
05:43I mean, they had these incredibly eloquent young women telling their stories.
05:49There were horrendous things that had happened to them. You know, we just couldn't believe it.
05:54And I think, again, that was the moment when I thought, goodness, I've got to do something to help these
06:04people.
06:04And I remember talking to one of the mothers who'd lost her daughter in the most horrific circumstances.
06:11I said, look, I don't know what I can do to help, but I promise I'm going to do everything
06:17I can to try and bring this out into the open.
06:22So I'm incredibly honoured to be part of it now. And I hope, you know, when we're all released again,
06:31I'll be able to go out and meet a lot more people, especially after Covid, because I fear,
06:38and I know that Suzanne's going to tell us a bit more, I fear that the numbers are going to
06:44be horrific.
06:48You
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