Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golders

Video Credit: Golders/@SolidariteFemme

World Cup winner Adil Rami is the new face of a campaign against gender violence and he has said that his activist girlfriend Pamela Anderson told him to “become active.”

Olympique Marseille defender Adil Rami has appeared in a chilling video highlighting the plight of women killed by their partners after he himself witnessed a femicide in 2008.

Rami said of Pamela Anderson, his girlfriend, who supports many causes: “She is proud of me because I am making myself useful. It is a cause she has supported before, but it’s true, she is really active… She told me off, saying: ‘You’re a footballer, you’re handsome, you have everything you want. Now, become active!'”

Pictures Credit: Golders/@SolidariteFemme & Golders

This campaign has been set up by Positive Football and the Solidarite Femmes association, and with Rami they have launched the “contrer les frappes” (‘to counter strikes’) campaign together to fight against conjugal violence.

Rami said: “In my ex-girlfriend’s entourage, a woman had suffered this type of violence and lost her life. This scarred me deeply. How does one react ? Who does one call? Seven years ago, I became interested again in the cause of beaten women. At a charity event, I contacted an association and told them that I wanted to help them. I was not taken seriously. Today, I can make myself heard, I take advantage of it”

He said: “I am not looking to improve my image, I am trying to reassure myself and tell myself: God is looking at me, at least I have done this! I really wanted to get invested in something worthwhile. They asked me what kind of actions I was interested in… The first thing is the cause of beaten women. It has been so for years. The pivotal moment was the death of Celia in 2008 near Lille. I was good friends with her father. One morning, Celia was found dead in a river, killed by her boyfriend. I was right in the middle of this tragedy, I saw tears, I saw screams. She was 18 years old! It’s hard, you can’t do anything to help the family, to console them, it’s much too strong.”

He added: “This stayed inside me for years, when I see that a woman dies every three days from blows from her partner. And now it is even every two days since the beginning of the year. I spoke about it again with her father… Eric does not want us to forget his daughter but his message is: ‘If we can save the lives of others, thanks to Celia…”

Rami, 33, was a member of the French squad which won the 2018 World Cup.