Cara Delevingne Shares How She Finds Confidence to Stand Up to Harassment (Exclusive)

Cara Delevingne is using her voice for good.

The model and L'Oréal Paris ambassador is speaking out on gender-based violence in honor of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov. 25) and the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, all in partnership with the beauty brand.

"Ever since I was younger, I felt very strongly about being able to protect myself and other people," Delevingne tells PEOPLE exclusively. "[If] you see something happening to someone on the street [and] you don't feel prepared to protect yourself, you are far less likely to protect someone else."

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Delevingne recommends everyone — especially women — take a self-defense class, and shares that she's equipped herself to be prepared for worst-case scenarios by learning martial arts.

"It's really empowering to feel like, 'okay, at least I have some tools to help myself, to help others,'" she says, adding that enlisting a group of friends to go a class together is a great idea.

Delevingne's own confidence in tough situations stems from her childhood. "I just didn't feel like because I was smaller or a woman that I couldn't stand up to [guys]," she says. Once in the spotlight, her need to be alert in tense situations only grew.

"As I got older, especially with paparazzi who can very much push boundaries and come into your personal space or grab you, it became about having foresight," she says of how she handles stressful situations. "It's [also] just about remaining calm, which I think is really important," she adds.

L'Oréal Paris is doing its part to help people be prepared for these situations through its Stand Up program, which provides training for dealing with street harassment, whether you're the target or come across someone who is.

To keep herself in a good headspace — which she says helps prepare her for any tricky situation that comes her way — Delevingne likes to stay active. She says that taking care of her body, in turn, takes care of her brain.

"I find it really important to move my body, whether it's just 10 minutes a day of stretching, going to the dog park, feeling in my body and out of my head, feeling strong, feeling fit, feeling capable," she says. "I think that also just helps the mind. I try to do breath work every day, a bit of yoga because of that."

Delevingne adds that when she has "a lot" going on in her hard, it's hard to "be aware" of what's happening around her. "I think especially if you're a woman walking alone on the street, you should always be aware. So I try to do things to ready that."

Delevingne has been an ambassador for L'Oréal Paris for a year. In her position with the brand, she has attended the Cannes Film Festival, walked the Le Défilé. Liberté, Egalité, Sororité "You're Worth It" L'Oréal Paris fashion show and, of course, dished on her favorite L'Oréal Paris products.

Upon being named an ambassador, Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, L’Oréal Paris Global Brand President, shared in a statement, "Cara embodies our mission to empower women everywhere no matter what hurdles stand in their way. In owning her strengths and desires but also her vulnerabilities and challenges, she inspires us all to achieve our ambitions and believe that anything is possible. She really is worth it!"