This year’s Miss Universe New Zealand Abby Sturgin has been making headlines, not only for winning the crown – but also for her unexpected day job as a police officer.
Born and raised in West Auckland, Abigail “Abby” Sturgin was only 14 when her father said she’d be a good police officer. He told her he could see she had a good head on her shoulders, loved helping people and was really brave.
Fast forward a decade, and Abby was working as an Auckland constable, something she’d been striving for, but took a few years to get there, saying she needed that time to be confident and brave enough to go for it.
And along the way, she’s been slowly working on another of her dreams. Abby started up with pageantry around a decade ago now (she also represented New Zealand for Miss Earth in 2017!).
“Doing Miss Universe was always a part of my lifelong dreams and goals,” says Abby.
And it’s definitely a dream come true for Abby, as she will represent New Zealand in the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand on November 21.
Being part of the global pageant also means she can raise awareness for an advocacy of her choice. And because of what sees on the beat, she’s shedding light on a prevalent issue in Aotearoa – domestic violence.
Capsule’s Vivien Beduya talks to Abby about her two worlds and her passion behind raising awareness about domestic violence.
Why do you think people are so drawn to your story, being both a beauty queen and police officer?
Abby: My career and my story is probably a little bit polarising in the sense where it’s not common. When you think of someone who’s a police officer, you think of someone who’s quite stern and very unapproachable. But I just want to be able to show that regardless of our job, we are human beings at the end of the day.
We can do extra curricular [activities] and put ourselves out there in the world to do things that help us become even better individuals.
I think a lot of people perceive police as people who don’t do anything else but focus on their job. It’s not even just for the police, but for everyone. People like to put others in a certain box where you can only do certain things in life. You can do multiple things and succeed in all of them.
Joining the police doesn’t make me less feminine and it doesn’t make me feel less. I can embrace my feminine side, wear makeup, do my hair and do something like a beauty pageant. Beauty pageants allow that platform for you to not only voice really important issues, but for you to embrace who you are as a person and be a good role model for others.
Being a police officer makes me really unique in the pageant realm as well. I haven’t seen a current police officer do a beauty pageant. It allows me to bring some really interesting experiences. It sets me apart from everyone else. It makes me different and that’s a really big strength for me.
Speaking about coming from two worlds, you’re proudly Laotian-Kiwi. How have both cultures influenced your life?
My mum’s from Laos and my dad’s from here. My mum migrated here more than 40 years ago. She came here to have a better life for herself and she’s taught me a lot about my culture.
I grew up speaking Laotian before I spoke English. It was really difficult for my dad, who only spoke English, to communicate with me up until I was about five when I started going to school.
It was tough in a way, I felt like I didn’t really fit in either side of my culture. I was either too Asian to be white or too white to be Asian. But at the same time, I grew up like every other Kiwi kid. I went to school and kindergarten like everyone else.
I have the nostalgia of watching the after-school shows, learning Māori songs, being part of the kapa haka group and playing sports like netball. Those are what makes me proud to grow up in such a unique and diverse country.
In my 20s, I’ve realised that embracing both cultures is something really unique and not a lot of people can say.
With the growing diversity in New Zealand, there’s no clear indication of what a true Kiwi looks like anymore. Being able to embrace both my cultures makes me a New Zealander at heart. It also shows people, even through my job, people see me and don’t feel as intimidated. They see me in a different light because I am mixed race.
It kind of gives people a sense of comfort in a way, especially for minority groups because they tend to want to see people of colour. It helps me build a relationship with them.
Why have you chosen domestic violence awareness as your advocacy in the pageant?
I picked domestic violence because I see it everyday in my job. On a daily basis with a colleague, we attend at least three domestic violence related incidences.
When you put that into a team of maybe 15 constables, that’s around at least 20 reports a day of domestic violence. Domestic violence is almost normalised because of how often it happens in this country and it’s a really big issue that doesn’t get spoken about enough.
We lack education on being able to support people, help them identify the signs when they’re suffering from domestic violence, and education on how they can be financially stable enough.
But for them to also be stable within themselves – their self-confidence and mental health. That’s the main reason why it connected with me so much. Rather than just picking an organisation that doesn’t really tie in with who I am and what I do every day.
At least I can say that even if I don’t create a big movement, I’ve made one percent of a change everyday and one percent is more than enough for me.
What do you wish New Zealanders understood about beauty pageants, especially something as big as Miss Universe?
I’ve seen people’s reactions to beauty pageants over time in New Zealand. For the most part, it was 70% positive which was really cool. But there is still a lack of understanding around pageantry, and that just comes with its history.
Maybe 15, 20 years ago, it would have just been about being on stage in a bikini and a gown. But these days, your personality and intelligence counts much more. You need to be able to hold yourself together and hold yourself to a high standard where you can represent the country.
Being able to showcase that pageantry isn’t all superficial anymore is difficult, but it’s not impossible, and I think me being a police officer has kind of shaped people’s points of views now. Some people have gone, “Oh, okay, she’s a career woman, but she’s also doing a beauty pageant” and that shows that it’s not all about looks.
I really hope that New Zealand looks past the stigma of pageantry and really sees what it can do for people these days and how it can actually help women develop and want to be better. That’s something I wish New Zealand would have a little bit more heart around – uplifting each other a bit more and people to really acknowledge their achievements.
What would your message be to New Zealanders?
I don’t want younger women and little girls to look at me and go, “That’s really cool. She can be a police officer and a beauty queen.” I want people of all ages, whether you’re a mum, you’re married, divorced, whatever it is, you can do these things and you can do extra curricular activities and be successful at the same time.
You don’t have to stop life when you have all of those things set in place already.
This interview had been shortened for clarity and length.
