‘Report it!’: The intimate videos of artists, Luarasi: The shame does not belong to the women, who filmed them?

SP MP Iris Luarasi has reacted to the scandal of the intimate videos, raising the questions of who filmed them, who published them and who is profiting from the distribution of the materials.

She encourages the investigations, but stresses that the victims themselves must report it in order to clarify the incident. Luarasi expresses solidarity and support for everyone affected, saying they have no shame to bear.

The MP also condemns the publication of the videos by the media, since it is not about informing, which is the foundation of journalism, but about humiliation, exposure and violence. According to her, everyone must bear responsibility, since public shaming leaves deep consequences.

“A whole country is watching, sharing and mocking private materials involving several women. While they are condemned in every comment, the most important question is left in the shadows: who filmed them, who published them and who is profiting from their distribution? There is talk about the women everywhere, and very little or nothing is said about the men.

What two adults do willingly in their private lives is not a crime. If someone was filmed without their knowledge or consent, that must be investigated. So must the publication and distribution of private images. The shame does not belong to the women. It belongs to those who violate their privacy and to those who feed this violence with ‘shares’, clicks and mockery.

I welcome the investigations launched by the Police and the Prosecution, as well as the reaction of the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data to ban and remove these materials. But justice takes its full form when the affected persons report the case: that is the path to clarify how the videos were made, who used them and who distributed them. To the women who today find themselves at the centre of this lynching, I say that you are not alone. You do not have to bear the shame for the violation that may have been done to you. The shame belongs to those who filmed, published and distributed, and to those who feed this violence with clicks, comments and mockery. And to those who distribute these videos: every ‘share’, every sending to a private group, every insulting or mocking comment extends the harm. You are not simply spectators. You become part of the violence against a person. Being a public person does not take away anyone’s right to privacy; nor does it give the public the right to judge, insult or condemn a woman for her personal choices. Those who present someone’s intimate life as ‘news’ for clicks and profit are not doing journalism. Journalism informs, verifies and respects human dignity. Exploiting intimate materials for traffic is not information, it is exposure, humiliation and violence. There must be clear responsibility for every portal, page or person that lives from the lynching of human lives.

Do not forget the most important thing: these women have children, mothers, parents, families, friends and lives beyond the screen. The consequences of this public shaming can be grave, deep and irreversible,” Luarasi writes.