Delta Rae singer: ‘I was raped at 13’

Delta Rae star Brittany Holljes has become the latest celebrity to open up about a teenage sexual assault nightmare.
The 29-year-old singer has revealed she was 13 when she was raped.
Brittany tells Taste of Country she told her family members shortly after she was assaulted, but then bottled up the trauma until recently, when she decided to pen an anthem for all the women who have been raped.
“I was sexually assaulted when I was 13. I won’t go into the details, even though I remember them and the trauma vividly,” she says. “My adrenaline kicks in, even now, thinking about it 16 years later.”
Holljes recently sat down with Scott Borchetta, the head of her record label, when he picked up on the lyrics to her new song, Hands Dirty, and realised she had something to say.
“I will never be able to forget the assault,” she says. “My life changed then. I was lucky to be believed and to have the support of my close friends and family. And I, like most women who say ‘Me Too’, didn’t quit on myself after the first assault or after countless other times experiencing misogyny, harassment or violence since. We just keep working.”
And Holljes is hoping her song and the countless women speaking out about sexual misconduct, rape and harassment will encourage Americans to vote female at the upcoming midterm elections next month (Nov18).
“This November, we have the opportunity to get an historic number of women elected,” she says. “Let’s do it by getting an historic number of women voting in the midterms and beyond. Speak up about the causes that matter to you.”