Journalist Sophie Ruelo guest edits To Di For Daily and gives us the scoop on our favorite ‘Crown’ Princess, Emma Corrin! ?
Speaking up for what you believe in will never be easy. But in this time of uncertainty and fear, we must do all that we can to fight those whose voices are silenced – or who cannot speak up for themselves. Emma Corrin, best known for her portrayal of Diana, Princess of Wales on Season 4 of The Crown, has heeded this call by putting her Golden Globes dress up for a raffle!
The piece is a custom-made, black velvet gown by Miu Miu – and features crystal embroidery and a white organza exaggerated neck collar. Inspired by Pierrot Clowns from 17th Century Parisian society, Emma wore this dress to the Golden Globes last month, where she took home the award for Best Television Actress in a Drama Series.
All proceeds from her project will be donated to The Survivors Trust – one of the largest membership organizations for specialist rape and sexual abuse services in the UK. The initiative runs a “national freephone helpline for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse and provides accredited training for Independent Sexual Violence Advisers.” Furthermore, they have been providing infrastructure support to their members for the past eighteen years – to help ensure survivors have access to the specialist support they deserve.
Her advocacy and bravery to speak up about rape and sexual abuse are important, now more than ever. According to the organization mentioned above, the impact of sexual abuse and violence in society is evident. Calls to the charity’s helpline increased by 174% compared to this time last year. Just this month, Sarah Edward was brutally kidnapped and murdered while she was walking home.
In her most recent Instagram post, Emma once again shared some powerful words on this issue, and inspired her audience to raise awareness on sexual abuse, and shed light on the importance of having safe spaces in our society:
“Recently, more and more people are coming forward to talk about their experiences of sexual violence and sexual abuse, sharing their stories and raising awareness. However, for many survivors, speaking about what happened to them feels impossible, for reasons including their safety, shame, or fear. It takes a lot to be able to speak about what you have experienced, because dealing with the truth of what has happened feels like an impossible feat. A journey towards healing and justice can seem totally out of reach, or just too much to handle; there is no training for handling trauma which is so utterly debilitating, that impacts every aspect of your life.
It is essential that there are safe spaces available for survivors to turn to in order to feel like they can be heard and supported at their own pace by people trained to help. The work that The Survivors Trust does is just this. Their umbrella organisation provides free, confidential support and information to survivors of all types of sexual violence as well as helping their member agencies that provide a range of direct services to survivors, including counselling, helplines, and advocacy services. Not only this, but the charity also delivers accredited training to members, government agencies, police, health professionals, and schools that promotes sensitive and informed responses to survivors.
There should be a world where everyone understands the issues around rape and sexual abuse, and every survivor should be able to access specialist sexual violence counseling and support free of charge and for as long as they need. The money raised in this raffle will be directly applied to making this reality. Please buy a ticket or donate if you can. Thanks, Emma.”
HERE’S A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO JOINING THE RAFFLE!
- Head on over to this link:
- Hit the Enter Raffle button.
- Click on how many tickets you’d like to purchase! One ticket costs 10£ (British pounds), and you can buy as many as 10.
- Select the purchase x ticket/s button.
- Enter your mobile phone number.
- Type in the verification code sent to your phone.
- Review your purchase, then click on the pay button.
- Complete the payment process. The website accepts credit card payments through Visa and Mastercard.
- Click on Pay Now.
- Pray and manifest every day until they announce the winner!
Entries will be accepted until 8:00 pm on Sunday, March 28! Some other important things to note are that the dress was made-to-measure, but is approximately a UK size 6. Entrants must also be living in England, Wales or Scotland, and be over the age of 18 at the time of entering.
From all the work she’s done and all her thoughts that she has shared with her audience, Emma Corrin has truly embodied the words of Diana, Princess of Wales: “Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.” I genuinely hope that you, dear reader, will be able to find the courage in your heart to do the same.
P.S. I hope this inspires you to dedicate your time to read up about these issues, especially since they are not brought up enough in daily conversations or in society and social media as a whole. Here are a few posts you can read on rape culture, sexual coercion, catcalling, sexual consent, misogyny, victim blaming, street harassment, and the problematic not all men narrative to get you started.
Lastly, Emma and her stylist, Harry Lambert, also spoke with Bazaar UK about this initiative and more tea on the Golden Globes! You can read more about it here.
Sophie Ruelo is a Guest Contributor to To Di For Daily and you can follow her on Twitter or Instagram.