Brave beauty queen contender overcomes sex attack trauma to reach pageant finals

 Strong: Raven Dixon-Briggs will compete in the Miss Birmingham finals

A brave beauty queen contender is proving an inspiration to victims of violence after overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder following a sex attack to reach the finals of a glamorous pageant.

Raven Dixon-Briggs, from Birmingham, says she was attacked at a party just weeks before her 18th birthday but no-one was ever charged, despite a police investigation.

Desperate to forget the terrifying ordeal, she spent months drinking and partying to forget the pain, the Birmingham Mail reports.

But with the help of her family the 20-year-old has now turned her life around and hopes to inspire others as she fights for the Miss Birmingham crown in Marc

“It was an awful time,” said Raven. “I made a statement, and went through the whole process but it never went to court. It felt like there was no justice.

“I went on a downwards spiral, drinking every night to try to bury it.

“I had no motivation for life. I would just go down Broad Street every night and get hammered to forget.”

Unable to sleep, and feeling increasingly depressed, Raven was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after visiting her local GP.

She was offered counselling, and with the help of her parents and five younger siblings she stopped the booze binges and found herself a job at the National Offender Management Service.

“My mum made me realise what I was doing to myself and my family and that I needed help,” said Raven.

“If it hadn’t been for my family I would have thought about taking my own life.”

Finally feeling more self-confident, she decided to apply to Miss Birmingham beauty pageant, beating 600 applicants to be named in the final 40 contestants.

“To win would be the biggest thing that has ever happened to me, and would offer me a new path,” added Raven.

“I’ll never be the same girl that I was when I was 17. But I want to show other PTSD suffers, that no matter how low you get, life can go on.

“I won’t let anything knock me back now.”