Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes the first British royal to visit ...

This visit of the Duchess of Edinburgh’s, however, clearly shifted things into another gear. Sohpie’s visit came as part of her wider initiative on sexual violence, a cause in which she has long been engaged.

This particular visit was part of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Sophie anticipated the visit with an address she made last month at the Restoration of the Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Survivors’ Rights Conference in Ukraine via video message.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (L) with the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska (R) visit the Saint Sophia Cathedral on April 29, 2024 in Kyiv

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She said we must stand shoulder to shoulder with ‘all survivors’ in an attempt to secure justice and ‘holistic redress’. The Duchess added that she would take the stories she had heard home in her heart.

Sophie also spoke at an evening reception at the UK ambassador to Ukraine’s residence. There, she thanked the survivors she had met for their honesty. She said of rape in conflict, that it is used ‘to demean, to degrade and to destroy’, adding that she had travelled to many conflict stricked countries where women and girls pay the highest price.