'Women Don't Need to Find Their Voice. They Have a Voice'

Meghan Markle says women already have a voice, but the problem is that people refuse to listen to them.

The future royal made this powerful statement during at the first annual Royal Foundation Forum on Wednesday in London. She was accompanied by her fiance, Prince Harry, and her future sister-in-law, Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.

Taking the stage, the former Suit star highlighted what everyone needs to do to empower women and girls, and it begins with shooting down that notion that women need to find their voices first.

“I hear a lot of people saying when speaking about girls empowerment, finding and knowing their worth and women’s empowerment as well—you’ll hear often people say, ‘Well, you’re helping women find their voices,'” she said on stage. “I fundamentally disagree with that because women don’t need to find a voice—they have a voice. They need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen.”

She continued, saying, “I think right now in the climate we’re seeing with so many campaigns, with #MeToo and Time’s Up, there’s no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them—men included in that. It makes such a tremendous difference.”

The American star will be getting married to Prince Harry in May. Though she has quit the movie industry, she continues her activism on empowering women and girls. “I guess we wait a couple months and then we can hit the ground running,” she concluded at the forum.

meghan markle