Three candidates of Miss Earth beauty pageant accused a sponsor of sexual harassment during their visit in the Philippines, but their allegations were questioned by pageant organizer Lorraine Schuck for the timing.
Vietnamese model Nguyễn Phương Khánh won the contest on November 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jaime Vandenberg of Canada, Emma Mae Sheedy of Guam and Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown of England named a certain Amado S. Cruz who made them uncomfortable during the pageant.
Schuck responded in an interview that the organization had since taken actions over Cruz’s inappropriate acts.
Manila Yacht Club
Vandenberg, Sheedy and Gyles-Brown took to Instagram to share their stories. All narrated of a private get-together in a yacht at the Manila Yacht Club, where the sponsor in question supposedly made them uncomfortable.
Of the three, it was Sheedy who named Cruz as the sponsor they were referring to in their accusations.
Sheedy and Vandenberg also got invited into his house in Boracay Island, a premier beach destination that re-opened last month.
Schuck said to GMA News, Miss Earth’s official partner, that the management had since dealt with this.
“Lahat naman ‘yon na-address n’ong October 14 pa. I found out about it tapos siyempre kung sino man ‘yong nag-sexual harass na sinasabi nila, bin-nan naman namin,” the former beauty queen said
Gyles-Brown was the one who told Schuck that she and other delegates were scared to report on harassment for fear that doing so will reflect badly on their pageant scores.
Schuck then assured her that he will be banned from all the events. Their scores will also not be affected because he is not a pageant judge.
Concerning the name given by Sheedy on her message, Schuck clarified that Cruz was not a sponsor, but only hosted for their food.
“Hindi sponsor ang Yacht Club. Individual member ng Yacht Club ang nag-sponsor so tinatawag na rin nating sponsor kasi nag-host [siya] ng food ng girls,” she explained.
Schuck then criticized the models for making these events public. She said that they had been briefed to voice out their concerns to the management and to the police since they arrived here.
“Alam nilang dapat lapitan nila ang team manager. Bakit hindi nila ginawa? Bakit ngayon lang nila sasabihin ‘to?” Schuck said.
Many people supported the former beauty contestants for their bravery on posting these online. Some even apologized on behalf of the Filipino community in the comments section.
Other candidates
Monica Aguilar of Cuba confirmed that some sponsors asked them to go to Boracay with them, but such does not count as harassment.
“No matter where you go in life, these types of things happen, but it is your responsibility to say no and walk away,” part of her post read.
Her fellow candidate, Maria ‘Otulau ‘Aholelei of Tonga, wrote in the comments section that Aguilar cannot speak on behalf of everyone.
“I respect you and your opinions but your statement is showing how little faith you have towards the other delegates and their experience in the journey,” the Tonga model said.
Sexual harassment and beauty pageants
Beauty pageants exists in many countries including the Philippines.
While many people say that these contests bring self-confidence and empowerment, others argue that these are venues to objectify women and discriminate them.
A study released in 2017 also revealed that beauty pageants are among the common situations where sexual objectification of women is “socially sanctioned.”
“Sexual objectification of women is encouraged, promoted and socially sanctioned through a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, beauty pageants, cheerleading, and cocktail waitressing,” researcher Bhuvanesh Awasthi said.
Awasthi also wrote that “objectifying” body images will highly lead to sexual violence or assault because of the de-humanized perception of female bodies.