In a year that's seen countless sexual assaults on University campuses around the world hit the headlines, Emma Watson has delivered a passionate speech about inequality, sexual violence and respect in higher education.

Yesterday, Watson appeared as a guest of honour at at the 71st Annual United Nations General Assembly in New York to mark UN Women releasing its first HeForShe Impact 10X10X10 University Parity Report.

In the speech, the 26-year-old campaigner took to the podium to call for the reform of campus sexual assault policies, two years after her first UN speech as an ambassador for HeForShe, the UN Women's gender-equality movement. 

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Presenting the report on gender parity in universities across the world, Watson called on Universities to prove to female students that they're valued within the campus and in leadership roles. 

'What if our experiences of university show women they don't belong in leadership? What if it shows that women can study, but can't lead a seminar?
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She talked about her own experiences at university, telling the assembly how her time in higher education shaped her as a person, her ideologies and views on politics.

'As we leave home for the first time to study at the places that we have worked so hard to get, we must not see or experience double standards. We need to see equal respect, leadership, and pay.'

'The university experience must tell women that their brain power is valued, and not just that, but that they belong within the leadership of the university itself.'

She implored universities to 'make it clear that the safety of women, minorities and anyone who may be vulnerable, is a right, not a privilege' and explained the need for schools to build a network that supports survivors and recognizes 'when one person's safety is violated, everyone feels their own safety is violated'.

'We must not see or experience double standards. We need to see equal respect, leadership, and pay,' she repeated. 

Emma Watson – a force to be reckoned with. 

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Katie O'Malley
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.