Miss World New Zealand has revealed that competing in beauty pageants gave her the ‘confidence’ to speak about her childhood sex abuse.
Jess Tyson, 25, said she was scarred by the abuse she suffered ‘on several different occasions’ when she was just seven-years-old.
In a recent interview with New Zealand’s AM Show, Ms Tyson said she initially found it difficult opening up about her traumatic experience.
Miss World New Zealand, Jess Tyson (pictured), 25, has revealed that competing in beauty pageants has given her a platform to speak about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child
Ms Tyson (pictured), 25, said she was scarred by the abuse which happened ‘on several different occasions’ when she was just seven-years-old
Ms Tyson said competing in Miss World made her feel ‘comfortable’ to speak up and create her own charity Brave aimed to raise awareness and provide support to sexual assault victims
Yet, she said competing in Miss World made her feel ‘comfortable’ enough to speak up.
‘Doing Miss World allowed me to feel comfortable and allowed me to talk about it a lot more,’ she said on-air.
The Māori Television presenter, from Whanganui, New Zealand, said she has now created her own charity called Brave aimed at raising awareness and providing support to sexual assault victims.
‘Doing Miss World allowed me to feel comfortable and allowed me to talk about it a lot more,’ she said on-air
‘It [beauty pageants] allowed me to be a part of charity projects, but then I thought maybe I should do something genuine to make an impact in New Zealand… so I started Brave.’
As part of her Miss World NZ Beauty With a Purpose charity project, she has created an online fundraiser and raised more than $500 towards her charity’s youth projects.
Ms Tyson was crowned Miss World New Zealand in May.
She is now preparing to compete in the 68th Miss World pageant in China this December.
As part of her Miss World NZ Beauty With a Purpose charity project, she has created an online fundraiser and raised more than $500 towards her charity’s youth projects
Ms Tyson (pictured) is now preparing to compete in the 68th Miss World pageant in China this December
In a recent interview with New Zealand’s AM Show, Ms Tyson said she found it difficult opening up about her child abuse