Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters

Our nation is comprised of many different backgrounds and cultures, one of the many things that makes me immensely proud to be a South African. ”

I was held up at gunpoint a month after I won Miss South Africa. ”

To ask for help does not make you weak. And that was something I felt after I was carjacked. I felt shame. I felt embarrassed. I felt weak about it. That's not the case at all. Once I did get help, I managed to overcome it and make something special with it, instead of not doing anything about it. ”

I want to encourage women not to feel weak. Don't be afraid to speak out. ”

I've heard many women say that they were afraid to come out or they were too ashamed to talk about it because they thought it was something they had done to promote the man to sexually harass them - and that is not the case. ”

You don't need a title or a crown or a sash to be able to stand together with other women. ”

A woman should be allowed to be whoever and whatever she wants to be and she should be respected for that. ”

And when I won Miss Universe, I got a global platform, which gave me a louder voice to be able to reach more women from every corner of the world. No matter where we live, our circumstances or how we grew up, we want to feel love, we want to feel cared for, and we want to feel powerful. ”

Becoming Miss Universe made me realize that women worldwide face the same challenges daily, such as various forms of violence and crime, physical and emotional abuse, and toxic relationships, among others. ”

I'd love to meet Thuli Madonsela, as she is such a powerful and dynamic woman. ”