‘Body checks’ at Miss Universe Indonesia shock the nation as contestants converse out

Their desires of representing Indonesia within the 2023 Miss Universe pageant turned to nightmares once they had been pressured to bear “body checks” in entrance of native organizers. Now seven contestants have filed complaints with the police, accusing the organizers of sexual harassment, their lawyer stated Tuesday.

During the July 29-Aug. 3 Miss Universe Indonesia contest within the capital of Jakarta — and forward of the present’s Grand Final occasion — the contestants had been advised to strip to their underwear for “body checks” for scars or cellulite, stated lawyer Melissa Anggraini.

The checks occurred in a ballroom on the downtown Sari Pacific Hotel, the place the competition was held, with about two dozen folks current, together with males. Five of the contestants stated they had been then photographed topless, Anggraini stated.

“We have obtained some evidences, even videos showing that the organizer had carried out ‘body checks’,” she added.

One of her shoppers, 23-year-old mannequin Priskila Ribka Jelita who represented West Java province within the pageant, recounted her “body check” ordeal in an interview with The Associated Press.

“When they asked me to open my bra … I was shocked! But I couldn’t speak or refuse,” she stated. “When I tried to cover my breast with my hand, I was even scolded and yelled at.”

“I was totally confused, nervous and humiliated, especially when I was told to lift my left leg on the chair” for an inspection up the within of her leg, Jelita stated.

After information of the “body checks” leaked out, the Miss Universe Organization reduce its ties with its Indonesian franchisee. The New York-based group stated in a press release late Saturday that it had determined to sever ties with PT Capella Swastika Karya, the franchisee, and its National Director Poppy Capella.

“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards and ethics,” the Miss Universe Organization stated on the social media platform X, previously referred to as Twitter.

The group additionally stated it could be cancelling this 12 months’s Miss Universe Malaysia because the Indonesian franchisee additionally holds the license for the neighboring nation’s pageant.

It stated it could make preparations for the Indonesia 2023 title holder, Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld, who received in Jakarta, to compete within the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, to be held in El Salvador later this 12 months.

Groeneveld was not among the many contestants who filed a criticism.

Jelita’s mom, Maria Napitupulu, stated she came upon what occurred to her daughter solely after studying her daughter’s put up on Instagram, the place she recounted the ordeal.

“It’s very sad and this really hurts me,” Napitupulu stated, tears streaming down her cheeks.

In March, Indonesian magnificence firm PT Capella Swastika Karya took over the license for Miss Universe Indonesia from Yayasan Putri Indonesia, or YPI, an Indonesian basis that had held the license for 30 years.

Capella, a former singer and the franchisee’s supervisor, couldn’t be reached for remark.

In a put up on the franchisee’s Instagram account, Capella on Saturday denied she had any data of or was in any manner concerned in any “body checking” of the contestants. She additionally stated that she was in opposition to each type of “violence and sexual harassment.”

In its assertion, the Miss Universe Organization stated no measurements of top, weight, or physique dimensions are required to hitch the pageant, and thanked the Indonesian contestants who’ve proven “bravery in speaking out.”

“To the women who came forward from the Indonesian pageant, we are sorry that this was your experience with our organization,” it stated, including that it was additionally evaluating present franchise agreements and insurance policies to stop any such conduct from occurring once more.

Since the “body checks” information broke, controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The nation has a popularity as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.

Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular nation of 277 million folks, are reasonable, however a small hard-line fringe has turn into extra vocal in recent times.

In 2013, a number of conservative Muslim teams staged an enormous protest in opposition to the Miss World competitors in Indonesia, prompting the organizers to maneuver the competition from Jakarta to the resort island of Bali. All of the greater than 130 contestants had been required to put on Bali’s conventional lengthy sarongs as a substitute of the bikinis which have traditionally been an emblem of the competitors.

Published On:

Aug 16, 2023