A model is taking legal action against the Miss World beauty pageant after she was disqualified for being a mother.
Veronika Didusenko is banned from taking part in the contest on 14 December because she has a five-year-old son, having lost her 2018 Miss Ukraine title for the same reason.
She was stripped of that honour hours after she had won it, with her status as a divorcee also counting against her.
The organizing committee explained that the Miss Ukraine and Miss World competitions have the same rules because whoever wins the former goes on to represent her country for the global title.
“The reason I was not allowed to compete in Miss World after winning the title #MissUkraine is because I had been married and have a child,” she wrote on Instagram.
The rules of Miss World ban mothers and married women from taking part in the beauty pageant and oblige the contestants to sign a corresponding agreement.
The 24-year-old was crowned Miss Ukraine in 2018, but was stripped of her title just four days later when it was revealed she was mother to Alex, now five, and was divorced.
The move sparked widespread controversy and outrage with many claiming it was “discriminatory” and “outdated”.
Ms Didusenko said, “I didn’t expect to win and I didn’t have any intention to win because I have a professional modelling career, I have a pretty busy life… When it happened I was shocked”.
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