Miss Kansas, a survivor, advocates against domestic violence

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The recently crowned Miss Kansas, Alexis Smith, says she is using her new title to advocate for healthy relationships after being surrounded by domestic violence most of her life. It even played a role on the night she was crowned.

She recently posted a video from the interview portion of the Miss Kansas pageant. During an answer to an interview question, she tells the audience that her abuser is in the audience.

“My vision as the next Miss Kansas is to eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships,” Smith said. “Matter of fact, some of you in this audience saw me very emotional because my abuser is here today. But that’s not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage (the audience erupts in cheers) and from representing as the next Miss Kansas!”

Smith’s platform is Respect Reclaimed: Advocating for Healthy Relationships. She shared part of her story on KSN News at Noon on Thursday.

“My family, every single woman in my family, was impacted by domestic violence,” she said. “At the age of 14, I got in my first relationship, but it was also an abusive relationship that I was in until about 2018, 2019. It’s something that I’m still experiencing and dealing with today.”

Smith told KSN’s Eddie Randle that being Miss Kansas allows her to have an impact on the problem.

“I took advantage of the Miss Kansas Organization, which truly focuses on empowering women,” she said. “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.”

She said there are four points of the Miss Kansas crown: style success, scholarship and service.

“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,” Smith said. “It’s something that I’m incredibly excited about to do on a large scale.”

She said people can follow her journey on the Miss Kansas Instagram account . To book her to speak to a group, visit MissKansas.org .

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