Life

Former Miss America tells of sexual abuse

Marilyn Van Derbur spoke during the Healing Place’s 2nd Annual Celebration of Courage luncheon Tuesday.

By News release, Published: April 29, 2014

Marilyn Van Derbur, in a keynote address for the Second Annual Celebration of Courage luncheon for the Healing Place, told of abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and urged other victims to come forward and shed any shame they carried.

Van Derbur, who was crowned Miss America in 1958, explained the effects incest had on her life and recounted how two men, her youth pastor and her husband, put her on the road to healing. She confronted both her father and after his death, her mother.

Her father told her that had he known what the abuse would have done to her, he never would have done it. Her mother told her she didn't believe her – that the abuse was in her fantasy.

At one point in her presentation, Van Derbur asked victims to stand and shared that by standing victims were acknowledging that they are beyond the shame they once endured. Van Derbur encouraged attendees to have a conversation with children and in her book, Miss America by Day, shares word for word examples to get the conversation started.

Board President Pat Ashe encouraged those in attendance to help the agency meet the need in Henderson County. The agency provided services to 1,065 individuals between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. Sponsors, ticket sales, and donations raised over $33,000 to continue the work of helping men, women and children recover from sexual violence.

The Healing Place is the Rape Crisis Center of Henderson County and provides services to men, women, and children following rape, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. All services are free and confidential. For more information, contact The Healing Place at (828) 692-0495 or go online to www.thehealingplace.info.