Miss. Papua New Guinea was stripped of its crown after sharing a video of TikTok. Critics say the incident reveals a profound 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 on the video-sharing app TikTok has.
Although twerking videos are common in the application, Maino’s recently removed video was singled out by critics who said it was not appropriate for a ‘role model’ to share a video of her dance in this way.
The video was downloaded from her private account and shared on social media platforms and YouTube, where thousands of people piled up to criticize Maino.
Following the video and the setback to it, Maino was “released” from her duties by the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant PNG (MPIP PNG) committee this week.
“Our core goal is the empowerment of women. We are a unique platform for the competition that promotes cultural heritage, traditional values and sharing through tourism across our country and people, ‘the committee said in a statement. “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 MPs against gender-based violence, denounced Maino’s online harassment and wrote on social media: “What kind of society condemns the torture and murder of women, but affects still upset when a young woman makes a dance video? ‘
A former Miss. PNG, which did not want to be named, said the incident showed deep-seated misogyny in the country.
‘I’m sure if a male public figure did a TikTok “We would all laugh or even praise him,” she said.
Maino received a football scholarship that enabled her to complete a degree in business administration from the University of Hawaii. She represented Papua New Guinea as co-captain of the 2019 national team and won two gold medals at the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.
She was crowned Miss in 2019. Papua New Guinea – a role acting as a cultural ambassador for the country and an advocate for women – in 2019. She will take on the role for another year following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many people criticized the committee for not supporting Maino after she was attacked for the video.
An advocate for women, who did not want to be named for fear of becoming a target for the people who harassed Maino online, said: ‘The committee would be better able to handle this by first passing the clause she has as a reigning queen, to sketch … I feel like they threw her under the bus and did not give a chance to come out and talk. This is not the way to go. ”
The United Nations in Papua New Guinea expressed its dissatisfaction through a statement on Facebook: ‘We see the devastation of violence against women and children in this beautiful country. Some have lost their lives through bullying … It starts with telling women to cover up. It starts with telling women, they should not dance like that. ‘
The Guardian approached Maino and the MPIP PNG committee for comment, but they did not respond by the time of publication.