Linor Abargil is one of the most renowned and respected Miss World of all time. An Israeli lawyer, actress, model and a beauty queen, Miss World 1998 Linor Abargil fought the hardest battle just days before she was crowned the world queen.

Just seven weeks before her Miss World competition, Linor, then 18-years-old was raped at knifepoint by her travel agent Uri Shlomo Nur in Milan. Not getting scared or thinking about the society, she reported it to the authority in Italy.

But Nur was released due to lack of evidence. But Linor was not the one to back down; she went on to report it to Israeli authorities and thus the extradition proceedings to bring Nur to Israel began. After the convict was tricked into coming back, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Linor Abargil’s story is a motivation for all those women who are, unfortunately, a part of the same situation all over the world. Since her crowning, Linor has made sure that she encourages all the women to come forward with their stories and not to back down because of the certain image that society asks them to portray.

(Courtesy Linor Abargil Instagram Official)

In 2013, a documentary named Brave Miss World was released which shared Abargil’s story with the world. “I think it’s very important to speak up. Because these women who don’t speak, they don’t want to believe it’s happened. They’re afraid to mention the word rape. If they say the word ‘rape’ they can shake all over and faint. It controls you. And for what? You let this person control you for the rest of your life. I think when you put what happened to you on the side, and you’re not afraid to confront it, then you realise it’s not what makes you who you are”, she explained as the documentary released.

Even today, Linor works as the speaker of all those victims of sexual abuse who can’t because of the fear of therapists. Isn’t she a motivation for us all?