Miss SC says she was raped. Here is how she plans to ‘shatter’ rape culture

Jill Dudley plans to use her reign as Miss South Carolina to advocate for rape survivors.

She said the issue is especially important to her because she was raped.

Her announcement, made via Instagram, Tuesday was the first time she has talked about what happened to her on June 30, 2021.

“I was at the top of the world,” she said.

She had just graduated from Coastal Carolina, was accepted into the paralegal program at University of South Carolina and finished in the top 10 of the Miss South Carolina pageant.

For months, she said she felt the weight of the rapist’s body as she slept, remembered the bruising, the pain, pinning her down against her will.

“This experience changed the path of my life,” she said. “Now, that heaviness is gone because I refuse to let that rape define me. I am no longer a victim, but a survivor and advocate.”

She said she wants to change the narrative, attitudes and behaviors that allow rape culture to exist.

Over the next weeks, she said she wants to examine the myths of rape culture, share stories of survival and encourage bystanders to “get off the sidelines” and intervene.

“It is not your fault,” she said. “Join me on this journey to shatter the cycle of rape culture.”

Dudley, a Socastee native, won the title of Miss South Carolina on June 25. She will compete for Miss America later this year or early 2023. The date has not been announced but it will be held at the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“As Miss South Carolina, you’re given an amplified voice to advocate for change,” Chaz Ellis, co-executive director of the Miss South Carolina Organization, said in a statement. “Jill has taken a personal experience and turned it into a blazing passion to be an advocate and leader for survivors across South Carolina.”