The winner of Miss Kansas has explained why she decided to publicly speak out against her alleged abuser, who she says was in the audience at the contest.
Video of 25-year-old Alexis Smith giving her acceptance speech went viral after she took the chance to courageously call her alleged abuser out.
In the clip full-time cardiothoracic ICU nurse Alexis promised to 'eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships'.
She continued: "Matter of fact, some of you in this audience saw me very emotional because my abuser is here today.
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"But that’s not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and from representing as the next Miss Kansas!”
The clip saw Alexis catapulted to fame for her bravery.
Now Alexis has shared why she decided to take such a brave stand in an interview with local news outlet KSN.
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She told the outlet: “My family, every single woman in my family, was impacted by domestic violence."
She says her abusive relationship is 'something that I’m still experiencing and dealing with today'.
Alexis went on to say that she had wanted to use the platform of being given the award to do some good in the world.
She said: “I took advantage of the Miss Kansas Organization, which truly focuses on empowering women.
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"And me, being a woman who needed that empowerment all my life, being a bystander to domestic violence, a victim, a survivor, and now an advocate as well as a young woman who is educationally driven, I have the opportunity not only to share my story on such a large scale but also go back to school.”
In her now famous acceptance speech she drew attention to four qualities which are attached to the Miss Kansas Crown.
These are style, success, scholarship, and service.
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Speaking about the four points, she said: “A big part of that is service and going out and taking your community, and not only developing a better you but a better community as well, and talk about your social impact and your initiative.
“It’s something that I’m incredibly excited about to do on a large scale.”
Posting to her Facebook page, she said: “On the night of Miss Kansas, my journey took an unexpected turn when someone I have been healing from tried to disrupt my peace.
“Instead of falling into silence, I chose to live out my vision for a better world. I took back the power — not just for myself, but for my dreams and everyone watching and listening.”
Topics: News, US News, Domestic Abuse, Sexual Abuse
Kit Roberts