Who is Sarah Dzafce and what did she do? Miss Finland slanting eyes photo controversy explained

Sarah Dzafce, who won the title of Miss Finland, recently landed herself in controversy due to a social media post. Sarah’s title was taken away after she shared a picture pulling the corners of her eyes.

While Dzafce has apologized for the photo, the situation took a worse turn with the caption, as it reads:

“Eating with a Chinese.”

Although Sara’s actions received criticism from a lot of people, members of the Finnish Parliament, Juho Erola and Kaisa Garedew, were spotted supporting her at the same time. BBC News stated that the duo had initially posted snaps repeating Dzafce’s gesture. However, the posts received a negative response, leading to their removal.

The reason behind the backlash towards Sarah Dzafce was that her gesture was considered to be an insult to the East Asian residents. As per Yle, the crown, which was originally won by Dzafce, has now been given to Tara Lehtonen, who was the runner-up of the competition held in September this year. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has also criticized the incident in a statement.

On Sunday, December 14, Miss Finland Organization took to their official handle on Instagram to react to the matter. The company wrote that they never encourage any kind of racism, discrimination, or hate speech.

“We stand with both former Miss Finland / Miss Universe Finland Sarah Dzafce and current Miss Finland Tara Lehtonen. Both are part of the Miss Finland community and deserve respect. Miss Finland operates on clear values. Respect and human dignity apply to everyone,” the organization added.

Sarah Dzafce reacts to the incident in a separate statement: Apology and other details explained

The news of Sarah’s title being taken away was first revealed by the Miss Finland Organization on social media. The company said that the title represents values like “respect, equality, responsibility, and human dignity,” adding that they are also the foundation of everything that they have done over the years.

The organization apologized to the Asian community for the content posted by Sarah Dzafce. The company mentioned that they never encourage racism. The statement reads that the company spoke to Sarah before coming to the final decision and continued:

“The title of Miss Finland held by Sarah Dzafce has been revoked as of today. This decision is not about a person’s human worth, but about responsibility. When an individual carries a national and international representative role, actions and responsibility are inseparable.”

The company wrote that they would like to wish the best to Dzafce, adding that everyone can learn a lot from their experience. They said that the title comes with a lot of responsibility, and Sarah could not meet the required expectations.

The Finnish website Iltalehti stated that Dzafce also reacted to the controversy while speaking at a press conference. Sarah apologized for her actions, addressing everyone. According to BBC News, Dzafce shared a separate statement for the same and said:

“That was not my intention in any way… One of the most important things for me is respect for people, their backgrounds and differences.”

Sarah even opened up on the reasons behind making the gesture, saying that it was her response to a headache she suffered from while having dinner. She clarified that the caption was allegedly included without her permission by a friend, whose identity was not revealed.