LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Nikki DuBose, a former model turned author, speaker, and mental health advocate, announced today the release of her memoir, Washed Away: From Darkness to Light. In Washed Away, Nikki recounts her experiences navigating the dark side of the modeling industry, while battling abuse, addiction, and various mental health issues. In the book trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fop6kvFZI8), she mentions the sexual abuse she encountered, including having been raped by a photographer, and the pressure she felt to lose weight.
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414734
"By my early twenties, I was modeling professionally and appeared on the covers of and in editorials for magazines such as Maxim,Glamour, Vogue, FHM, and Vanity Fair. But while my career was going well, my mental and emotional health were in shambles. I went from one extreme to the other to meet weight requirements for photo shoots, and quickly fell into anorexia nervosa. At times I struggled to survive, beginning to abuse diet pills as a way to achieve the figure that my agents were pushing me to have for fashion shoots," says DuBose.
Because of the lack of laws and protections, models have long been subjected to sexual and financial abuse, bullying from agents, and have been pressured to lose so much weight that many have developed devastating, even fatal eating disorders.
"My mission is not to vilify the business, but to educate the public and to further support why models need workplace protections and health standards," says DuBose. "I'm speaking out in the hopes that others will come forward, use their voices and get the help they need. These are 'silent' issues that shouldn't remain so."
Nikki recently worked alongside Assembly member Marc Levine on California Assembly Bill 2539, which addressed the need for workplace protections and health standards in the modeling industry. She gives talks regularly on her recovery at universities and treatment centers. She also writes extensively on mental health, political issues, and exposes the truth about the modeling industry onThe Huffington Post, the National Eating Disorders Association, Eating Disorder Hope, Clinical Recovery Institute, and Recovery Warriors. Nikki contributed as an expert reviewer for Harvard University's STRIPED program (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders), helping craft their teaching lesson for this new semester, which focuses on modeling and eating disorders.
For media inquiries, please contact Kelsey Butts at Book Publicity Services at (805) 807-9027 or Email.