Editor’s note: This story mentions instances of domestic violence and childhood rape. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, contact 1-800-799-SAFE or text START to 88788 to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what was possible for my future when I was a kid.” Owensboro native and sexual assault survivor Hadley Duvall’s advocacy efforts have reached the national level, as those are her first words in a new ad defending reproductive rights for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
Duvall recently played a part in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial race between Gov. Andy Beshear and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Her story about surviving sexual abuse and impregnation from her stepfather resonated with several Kentuckians, she said.
Her story is now part of the national platform with the support of the Biden-Harris campaign, something she didn’t see coming when she signed on to join Beshear’s bid for re-election.
“Before this, I was not very political. I knew that if I were going to get the opportunity to step onto the Presidential platform, I would definitely take it. I really owe it to myself, and I owe it to so many little girls out there, and they are out there — real, true stories currently going on right now,” she said.
When Duvall initially received a phone call from a Biden-Harris representative requesting that she come alongside the pair, she wanted to follow through.
The first interview was a Zoom call, and the representative said they had been following her story through Beshear’s campaign, Duvall said. There was “no pressure” from the team to do the campaign, and ultimately, she recalled, it was up to her to decide if she wanted to share her story at the national level. After talking with her family, she felt comfortable that while this moment was good for her, it was also not just her moment.
“This is bigger than me; this is for so many other people. So, I just always felt like it was my calling and my purpose. So I said, ‘yeah, let’s get down,’” Duvall said.
It wasn’t much longer before a campaign representative asked to fly Duvall to New York City to sit alongside Vice President Kamala Harris for a joint interview with Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski. Before she got on the plane, though, Duvall said she received a personal phone call from the Vice President herself.
Duvall had appeared on CNN and other major media outlets before, but she said she still had nerves ahead of that joint interview.
“[Harris] just wanted to talk to me before we met in person, to meet me over the phone and just introduce herself, and we talked for a little bit. That really meant a lot because that helped my nerves a lot. That showed me that this is more than just an interview to her; she is taking time out of her day … it made it so personal to me,” Duvall recalled.
Knowing Harris’ background, Duvall said the two’s conversation about the future of reproductive rights in America — whether under the Biden-Harris or Trump-Vance administrations — resonated at a deeper level.
Seeing how both the Biden-Harris and Beshear-Coleman campaigns have rallied behind her experience and the stories of several others gives Duvall an amazing feeling, she said.
“I am forever so grateful, especially for the men who are willing to say, ‘No, actually this is what we believe in, and no matter how controversial it is, we will stand on the fact that we believe in that,’” Duvall said. “… So knowing that there are people in power who didn’t raise you, didn’t know you when that was going on, but are still willing to say, ‘You matter,’ is just very important.”
While advocacy has taken the forefront for the last year, she said it’s still important to showcase the human side of herself. Duvall may be an advocate for reproductive rights, but she is also a first-generation college graduate, having just graduated from Midway University in May.
With her bachelor’s degree in psychology focusing on drug and alcohol counseling, Duvall said she plans to serve families like hers. She plans to continue her education and get a master’s in social work after first focusing on the campaign.
“There is so much more to me, but at the end of the day, to my core, I will always be a survivor,” she said. “I don’t see that in a negative way like I thought I had to. It has shaped who I am, but I’m not just a survivor, but I am a survivor.”
Read our initial story on Duvall’s experience and the beginning of her advocacy efforts here. The Kentucky legislature introduced a bill (SB99) in the previous legislative session that failed to pass the Senate. Read our previous coverage here.
