Presenter, TV star and activist Chanita Stephenson has joined Refuge, the biggest specialist home abuse organisation within the UK, as a celeb ambassador.
After partnering with the charity as a Refuge Champion in 2023, Chanita will now be stepping up her involvement with Refuge, serving to to lift consciousness of the very important companies it supplies to tens of 1000’s of survivors yearly.
First showing on Married at First Sight in 2022, Chanita is thought for utilizing her platform to talk out for ladies’s rights. Since becoming a member of Refuge final yr, she has performed an important half in campaigning efforts, selling Refuge’s summer season attraction and sharing her personal experiences of home abuse as a baby.
The announcement comes throughout 16 Days of Activism towards Gender-Primarily based Violence, an annual worldwide marketing campaign led by the UN, which launches right now (the Worldwide Day for the Elimination of Violence In opposition to Ladies), and shall be working till Human Rights Day on the ten December. Refuge is standing with the UN’s name to finish the epidemic of violence towards ladies and women (VAWG).
1 in 4 ladies in England and Wales expertise home abuse of their lifetime, and each two minutes, somebody turns to Refuge for assist. Refuge supplies a variety of lifesaving companies for survivors of home abuse, together with emergency lodging, neighborhood companies, and the Nationwide Home Abuse Helpline.
Chanita Stephenson stated:
“As the worldwide 16 Days of Activism marketing campaign begins, I’m thrilled to be formally becoming a member of Refuge’s celeb ambassador programme after a yr of working intently with this lifesaving organisation. From supporting Refuge’s summer season marketing campaign to sharing my very own expertise of home abuse as a baby, this previous yr has provided so many alternatives to lift consciousness and assist survivors know that they aren’t alone. Nevertheless, our work will not be completed.
“Having grown up in a family with home abuse, I do know first-hand the devastating influence abuse can have on survivors. 1 in 5 kids within the UK have lived with an grownup perpetrating home abuse. Together with Refuge, I need to proceed working in the direction of a future the place home abuse is eradicated and all ladies and their kids are in a position to reside free from concern.”
Refuge’s Chair of Trustees, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, stated:
“Chanita has been good in elevating consciousness of Refuge up to now yr, and we’re delighted that she is becoming a member of us as an envoy to proceed our essential work collectively. The dimensions of home abuse and VAWG is really devastating, and there are nonetheless so many misconceptions about home abuse. The work of our celeb ambassadors has been extremely vital in altering perceptions and driving optimistic change, so we sit up for our continued partnership with Chanita as we try for a world the place home abuse will not be tolerated.”
