A national heroine in Israel, Linor Abargil was crowned Miss World in March of 1998.
A month and a half before the Miss World competition, she had suffered a brutal rape while
modeling in Italy. After the subsequent trial, which resulted in a 16 year prison sentence for
her rapist, the young Linor made a public statement before the entire nation of Israel,
counseling other women to not be afraid of reporting their rapes, and to seek punishment for
the perpetrators. She then returned to a private process of healing but resolved to one day do
something about the crime of rape.
Linor immersed herself in drama studies and was soon discovered by the stage and cast in
leading roles in Tel Aviv. One of them was in "The Blue Room", in the role played by Nicole
Kidman onstage in London and New York. Linor has continued to perform on the stage, to
write and record music, and is currently enrolled in law school. She intends to use her law
degree to represent women who are victims of sexual violence. She is now fulfilling her hope
to address the issue of rape by embarking upon a speaking tour to encourage victims of rape
to speak out, not to blame themselves, and not to stay silent. She hopes her message will
lead to greater credibility for rape survivors in the eyes of the police and the courts, and for
longer prison sentences for rapists. She is also filming a documentary in which she will tell her
own story and reach out to rape survivors around the world, encouraging them to tell theirs.
Linor's Profile
Linor’s journey – along with the journey of many women – is currently being developed into
a documentary by Producer/Director Cecilia Peck. The film is based on Linor’s personal story,
but also on the reality of the rape of women throughout the world. In the film, Linor will share
how she coped with her own trauma, while reaching out to women around the world and
encouraging them to rise up and press charges. To speak out. Not to hold their silence. Linor
will investigate the status of rape in different countries, gather data on the state of legislation
in the world and travel with the aim of gathering strength from women in order to make a
change, both in legislation and in the world’s awareness of the epidemic of rape and sexual
assaults around the world.
Topic Categories
Women-specific
Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse
Motivation, Inspiration
Presentation Titles
End the Silence
Former rape survivor and Miss World 1998 Linor Abargil addresses the issues of rape and
sexual assault. She uses her own experience to advocate for speaking out and pressing
charges, and urges other survivors not to stay silent and not to blame themselves.
Audience Testimonials
"One of the things that differentiates Linor from other speakers that I’ve seen is that with
other speakers, when telling their own story, you don’t get the sense that they are still making
peace. You get the sense that they have made peace and that’s why they’re able to come tell
you their story. From Linor there is an intensity that's part of her healing, part of a mission
that's still new and something she's really passionate about. There’s an immediacy about her
speech. We’ve had lots of lovely speakers before, real pros, but there is something more raw
about Linor's experience because this is her "now." She's embarked on a journey to use her
experience to make right. She's still traveling that road, so there is something very compelling
about watching someone who's up there and who’s still in process.”
"Here is the interesting thing about Linor. People see date rape as very muddy and a very
grey area, but what happened to Linor, no one could ever possibly dispute. With a lot of the
cases that get reported here on campus, there are plenty of opportunities for people to
say, ‘well you know she was drun’k, and there are lots of loopholes. There are no loopholes in
what happened to Linor." - Participants/organizers of the ‘Take Back the Night’ rally at Princeton, 2009
In Her Own Words
Coming Soon
Audio / Video Recordings
Video/Audio not currently available. Please inquire.
Video/Audio not currently available. Please inquire.