Miss Papua New Guinea was stripped of her crown after sharing a video of her spinning on TikTok, with critics saying the incident reveals a deep culture of misogyny in the country.
Lucy Maino, 25, who also served as co-captain of the Papua New Guinea women’s soccer team, faced intense online harassment after sharing a video of herself twerking on the Papua New Guinea app. video sharing TikTok.
Although twerking videos are common in the app, the video now deleted from Maino has been selected by critics who have said that it is not appropriate for a “model” to share a video about her dancing in this way.
The video was downloaded from her private account and distributed on social media platforms and YouTube, where thousands of people gathered to criticize Maino.
After filming and reacting to it, Maino was “released” from her duties by the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant PNG (MPIP PNG) this week.
“Our main goal is to empower women. We are a unique platform of competition style that promotes the cultural heritage, traditional values and the sharing through tourism of the country and our people “, the committee declared in a communiqué. “MPIP PNG promotes the virtues of trust, self-worth, integrity and community service, with a parallel focus on education.”
Allan Bird, the governor of East Sepik and co-chair of the Coalition of Parliamentarians Against Gender-Based Violence, denounced Maino’s online harassment, writing on social media: of dance? ”
A former Miss PNG, who did not want to be named, said the incident showed deep misogyny in the country.
“I’m sure a male public figure did a TikTok , we would all laugh or even praise him “, she said.
Maino received a football scholarship that allowed him to complete a degree in business administration at the University of Hawaii. She represented Papua New Guinea as co-captain of the 2019 national team, winning two gold medals at the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.
Miss Papua New Guinea was crowned – a role involving the country’s cultural ambassador and women’s advocate – in 2019. She continued in the role for an additional year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many people criticized the committee for not supporting Maino after she was attacked for the video.
A women’s lawyer, who did not want to be named for fear of becoming the target of people who harassed Maino online, said: “The committee could have done better by first presenting the clause it violated. as the reigning queen … that they threw her under the bus and didn’t give her a chance to go out and talk. This is not the way to go. ”
The United Nations in Papua New Guinea expressed its dissatisfaction with a statement on Facebook: “We see the devastation of violence against women and children in this beautiful country. Some have lost their lives through aggression … Start by telling women that they should hide. Start by telling women that they shouldn’t dance like that. ”
The Guardian also addressed Maino and the MPIP PNG committee for comments, but did not respond at the time of publication.