New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS): India's tennis star Sania Mirza Wednesday took to Twitter to deny that she said there is no respect for women in India.

Sania Mirza was appointed the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the South Asian region by UN Women at an event held to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women Tuesday, where she reportedly said that "women face discrimantion and are treated like animals".

"Just to make a couple of things very clear - I did NOT say that there is no respect for women in India..i am the ambassador for the region," she tweeted.

"And I would never be where I am today if the country had'nt given me all this love...but I am fortunate, very fortunate...there are milllions-of women who are less fortunate in this part of the world, and hav been victims of abuse, physical or sexual, hav not been allowed to follow their dreams cause they were a 'girl'!," Sania wrote on the social networking site.

The Grand Slam winner Tuesday said she intends to educate women about gender equality, which, in her opinion, is a cultural problem where women feel they are second-class citizens.

"I hav made myself very clear..and will stand for what I believe in and address the issue of gender inequality," the 28-year-old tweeted.