Bachelor contestant lifts lid on sex abuse trauma
Miss Universe contestant Vakoo Kauapirura is putting her personal trauma aside to give a voice to others.
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Vakoo Kauapirura is putting her personal trauma aside to give voice to others.
The former Bachelor contestant, now in the running for Miss Universe Australia, is a sexual abuse survivor, who suffered at the hands of her perpetrator as an eight-year-old in Namibia before her family emigrated here.
“I am a sexual abuse survivor and I want to use Miss Universe to raise awareness on behalf of other women who have been silenced or who have been made to feel scared to speak out,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“When I went through it, I really felt alone and I never spoke about it for years. Once I started speaking about it, I realised I wasn’t alone.”
The 26-year-old is based in Camden and describes herself as a model, author and activist.
She is one of 30 finalists making it through to the virtual Miss Universe Australia event on October 19, when reigning titleholder Maria Thattil will hand over her crown.
Thattil and Kauapirura are both represented by Bella Management.
Kauapirura would be familiar to reality TV lovers as she was one of the prominent contestants on Matt Agnew’s series of The Bachelor.
“When people think of the typical Australian girl, they won’t think of someone like me,” Kauapirura said.
“I am prepared for those types of comments but I think what I love about Australia and what it means to me to be Australian is it is not really about the colour of your skin. Being Australian is a mindset to me.”
Kauapirura has a tattoo on her collar bone that reads ‘Love yourself first’, written backwards so it is the right way looking in the mirror.
“I think my passion and what I was brought here for into this world is to help others,” she said.
“Especially women and men or whoever has gone through the same things I have been through.
“Although I am still hurting myself, the last few years I have put my feelings aside and I have just put that hat on to help everyone else.”
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