Three Instagram influencers deceived and sexually abused a migrant who was taking refuge in the facilities of the organization Dignidad y Justicia en el Camino A.C., in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The events occurred last Sunday, August 8, outside the organization, when Juan Carlos Villalobos (whose Instagram account is @jcvillalobosjc), Fer Rivera (with IG account @Feeriveraaa) and Gabriel Roth (with the account @el.muneco.acosta) asked a migrant to let himself touch his genitals in exchange for a 500 peso bill. When he agreed, the friends performed the touching and then withdrew amid taunts expressing that the bill was fake. The abuse was broadcast live by the influencers themselves through IG’s account @laschiquirrucas.
Last Monday, the organizations Casa Migrante de Saltillo and FM4 Paso Libre publicly denounced the abuse, condemned the behavior of influencers against the migrant and demanded that the economic need of migrants and refugees not be taken advantage of to meet the “sexual and/or rating needs.”
Read: CNDH investigates detention of migrant children at CDMX Airport
Through a statement, the organizations showed their rejection of the country’s Migrant Houses being taken as places where people’s economic need incites certain groups to “monetize the sexuality of migrants,” since there are no conditions of equality and the need for survival is extreme.
“We condemn that the abuse and mockery against one of the most vulnerable sectors of the country, which are migrants, becomes a topic of fun for the so-called ‘influencers’ and that this type of behavior is a source of fun for the people who follow them,” they said.
Joint statement with @FM4PasoLibre on the respect for migrants and refugees by the so-called influencers. #Jalisco #Guadalajara #Saltillo #Coahuila pic.twitter.com/Yrb8KWBJA3
— CasaMigranteSaltillo (@CDMSaltillo) August 9, 2021
They recalled that it is not the first time that this account, with almost 31 thousand followers, does this type of acts where classism and abuse of the most vulnerable people are expressed, since they have also done it with people in street situations.
“As human rights organizations, we respect and embrace all sexual preferences and generic sex expressions, but we do not tolerate the abuse or use of other people’s bodies based on a situation of extreme economic need,” they said.
Read: A new journey for the human rights of migrant agricultural workers
Both organizations called on the members of the @laschiquirrucas account to respect all sectors of the population, especially the most vulnerable, reminding them that economic privileges and the fame with which they live, cannot be justification for the abuse, mockery and disrespect for the vulnerable community that lives or transits through Jalisco and all of Mexico.
Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office Announces Investigation; influencer apologizes
On Tuesday, the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office reported that they will investigate the case ex officio, after learning the video of the influencers through social networks. They have already contacted the Casa Migrante de Saltillo and FM4 Paso Libre and requested that the migrant be presented so that he can give a statement of the facts and file a formal complaint if he so wishes.
Meanwhile, one of those involved, Fer Rivera, apologized monday on his Instagram account for the “reprehensible action” they took against the migrant, after acknowledging the “mistake and seriousness of what happened.” He promised to educate himself “about the situation of migrants in the country” and to find “a way to volunteer to learn from my mistakes.”
One of those involved in the deplorable harassment of migrants in Guadalajara wrote this as an apology. In the wretched and punishable context in which this happened, I am of the opinion to grant honesty in the message. First by the human capacity to think again. pic.twitter.com/wYS9Vxqjzx
— José Acévez (@joseacevez) August 10, 2021
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