Miss Iron County has no problem with world peace.
But when Erika Hansen steps up to the microphone in June at the Miss Utah pageant, she's going to be talking about something very different from the normal beauty pageant stereotypes, something that can make a lot of people uncomfortable.
She is a victim of child sex abuse.
"I think people, they might be a little taken aback, because you expect the world peace, exercise, and be-your-own-beautiful platforms," Hansen said. "We should talk about it."
Hansen will make child sex abuse her platform in the pageant, putting a pretty face on an ugly topic. She said she was abused by her stepfather for seven years.
"It started when I was 11 years old and lasted until I was 18," Hansen said matter-of-factly in an interview with the Deseret News. "In high school, in my senior year, I went to my high school counselor and I filed a police report."
In a small town like Cedar City, news traveled fast when Hansen's stepfather was charged. She remembers the prying questions, the stares from the community. She felt the shame, the stigma of being a victim.
She testified against him at a preliminary hearing in 2007.
"It was probably one of the most scary things," she said. "He is in this little courtroom sitting in front of me, staring at me. It was also exhilarating because I was doing what I needed to do, and it was right."
Court records show that Kevin Lynn Phillips, 43, ultimately pleaded guilty in Cedar City's 5th District Court to felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual abuse of a child, witness tampering and violating a protective order. He was sentenced to serve up to 15 years in prison.
A senior biology major at Southern Utah University going into pre-medicine, Hansen said she entered the pageant on a whim when she was encouraged by people at the dance studio where she teaches part-time.
"The scholarship is incredible for anyone going to school full-time and needing something to pay for it," she said.
Hansen's first platform, "staying fit through dance," didn't really resonate with local pageant officials. She was told to make her platform more personal.
Hansen decided to make it very personal.
"Child sex abuse thrives on darkness, secrecy, deception and shame," said Becki Bronson, Miss Iron County 1994 and a member of the pageant committee. "Erika has the courage and passion to bring it to the light of day. She has taken this platform of something that is not discussed. She's lived it. She's walked the road of it, which makes it doubly impressive to me. Some girls will take platforms they have no experience with.
"It's something she, tragically, has experienced first-hand."
During this year's Miss Iron County pageant, Bronson watched the judges interview Hansen.
"They were absolutely engrossed in her platform," she said. "I was so stunned that here's this beautiful, accomplished, talented, genuine, nice girl who'd gone through such horrendous things and risen above it."
Hansen said she wants to talk about it now.
"It's almost therapy to get out there and talk about it," she said. "It's a topic that is hard to talk about."
Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant officials can't recall such a topic being brought up in recent history.
"We have seen a couple of controversial ones before," said Justi Lundeberg, a member of the pageant board. "It does seem a bit controversial."
Lundeberg said judges look for contestant's passion about her platform, what she has accomplished on a local level and what she would accomplish statewide.
"Obviously, this is important to her because she has that personal connection," Lundeberg said.
Advocates for children are thrilled that Hansen is speaking out.
"It's happening a lot more than people are willing to talk about," said Stephanie Furnival, the executive director of the Iron County Children's Justice Center. "To be that person, maybe someone else is in a situation where they're being sexually abused and they see someone willing to talk about this, they may say, 'I don't have to be ashamed to talk,' because it's not their fault."
If she were crowned Miss Utah, Hansen would seek more education for parents about what to do when a child discloses abuse and more resources for children who are victimized.
"Education is key because they don't know what to do," she said. "My mother didn't. It's not something you think would ever happen to you."
She speaks at elementary schools and youth homes in the Cedar City area and wants to expand her education campaign across the state.
Hansen rattles off disturbing statistics about sex abuse — one in three girls and one in six boys will be victimized. She wants to empower other victims.
"I don't come at it as, 'I'm a victim, pity me.' I've come out on top and been successful in life," Hansen said.
Two days after the Miss Utah pageant ends, Hansen is scheduled to confront her stepfather again when she is expected to testify at another trial where he is accused of violating a protective order.
"He once said, 'You're not going to do anything about this,' " she said. "I'm going to show him I'm confident enough."
Hansen said the pageant has empowered her to make child sex abuse a topic that must be discussed.
"Before, it was not a topic that I would just readily discuss with anyone," she said. "Through this pageant, it's really made me grow as a person and realize how important it is to get out there and talk about it."
E-MAIL: bwinslow@desnews.com