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Beauty queen sues Miss World contest after she was banned from taking part because she's a mother and divorcee: ‘It's sexist and outdated’

Veronika Didusenko, 24, said, 'It was really humiliating when I was disqualified. I couldn’t believe they would do such a thing in this day and age.'
UPDATED JAN 27, 2020
(Source : Getty Images)
(Source : Getty Images)

The Miss World Beauty Pageant is the largest beauty contest held annually at a global level. Women from every country and continent strive hard to be a part of this platform and showcase their beauty, talent, skills, and intelligence. Over the years, a lot has changed in the way pageants are organized and the association takes into consideration the socio-cultural changes that take place.

But recently, Veronika Didusenko, who was Miss Ukraine, felt discriminated by the Miss World contest. When she revealed to the organizers that she is a mother of a five-year-old son and is also divorced, she was stripped off her title of ‘Miss Ukraine’, reported The Daily Mail.

The 24-year old beauty queen sued the pageant association and called them ‘sexist and outdated’ after they banned her from being a part of the global beauty contest. One of the primary terms and conditions of Miss World is that mothers or married women are not allowed to participate in the global beauty contest since it started in 1951. And participating women have never come forth with any allegations.

However, Miss Ukraine didn’t hold herself back and filed a complaint against the UK-based pageant organizers, claiming they breached the Equalities Act 2010 by prohibiting women to participate on the basis of their social or marital status.

Veronika also demanded that the association should change their entry criteria, by naming it ‘outdated’ in a time when social acceptance has become important, especially for women.

Veronika is a mother of a five-year-old son Alex and has been divorced. She was even crowned Miss Ukraine. But within four days of crowning, her personal life and marital status came to light and her title was stripped off her, thus prohibiting her from further participating in the Miss World finals.

Following her complaint, Veronika also took legal actions against the pageant organizers, claiming that she is currently feeling ‘publicly humiliated’. The incident took place only a couple of weeks before the Miss World finals due to be held in London.

Veronika commented, “It was really humiliating when I was disqualified. I couldn’t believe they would do such a thing in this day and age.”

The 64th edition of Miss World pageant is due to be held on December 14, 2019.

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