Why I quit Miss World

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday November 06, 2002 15:37 by Miss World

Why I quit Miss World

Why I quit Miss World

Masja Juel, the current Miss Denmark, explains why she has decided to boycott the contest along with eight other finalists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,834348,00.html

Hadley Freeman
Wednesday November 6, 2002
The Guardian

When I won the Miss Denmark title last year, I was very excited. I had never entered beauty pageants seriously before and I could not believe that I had won such a big competition. Then, when I found out in spring 2002 that I would be taking part in the Miss World pageant, I could hardly sleep because I was so happy. My friends and family were so proud of me and this would be the first time anybody from my country would be going to the final of this international competition.
At the time, I knew that it would be staged in Nigeria, but I was OK with that because, I thought, there weren't any problems there. I wasn't very politically aware then, to be honest.

But in September I was told about the case of Amina Lawal and that she would be stoned to death in Nigeria simply for having sex outside of marriage. I just couldn't believe it. How can this kind of thing happen in 2002? What kind of country would do such a terrible thing?

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,834348,00.html