A 'Miss Homeless' contest with a first prize of a rent-free flat for a year has been blasted by women's rights groups in Belgium.

A 58-year-old beat nine others, who are now back on the streets, to the crown.

"The event was about the contestants' inner strength and determination to get themselves out of their old life and on a new path," organiser Aline Duportail, an 18-year-old beauty queen, explained.

But women's rights activist Jacqueline Aubenas did not agree.

"I am outraged. These girls being turned into puppets parodying their own life is absolutely pathetic."

However, winner Therese Van Belle was overjoyed with her prize.

"I'm really overcome... I've never been lucky in my life. This is the first time I've been lucky. I think my life is about to change for the better."

Second-place Leonie Renier (39), who lost her house and children because of substance abuse, defended the competition, despite walking away empty-handed.

"The contest is not obscene — for a homeless person to want to be beautiful is not obscene. It is the misery of life on the streets that is obscene."

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