Beauty Pagent Contestants From Peru Talk About Women Issues In Their Country Instead Of Giving Their Measurements

Now, this is something you don’t see every day on a beauty pageant, television viewers were surely surprised last Sunday, October 29, when the more than 20 beautiful women competing in the Miss Peru 2017 pageant used the national platform to reveal eye-opening and blood-curling statistics about the violence that many women in their different corners of the country have to endure every year. All contestants have to cite their measurements when they introduce themselves to the public and judges, but instead of engaging in the trivial and boring tradition of doing so, the 23 girls took the stage to educate their peers on the more important subject involving the women of Peru that ranged from sexual harassment to trafficking and feminicide.

“My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the last nine years in my country,” said Camila Canicoba, from Lima, the capital of the South American country. “I represent the constitutional province of Callaomy and my measurements are: 3,114 women victims of trafficking up until 2014.” said pageant winner Romina Lozano. Another contestant said on stage that in Peru a girl dies every 10 minutes from sexual exploitation, a piece of information that really shook the public who did not stop cheering the girls’ courageous stand for women rights. Mrs. Lozano will now be representing Peru in the Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CNN Latin America interviewed Latina’s -Peruvian television network with the rights to transmit the contest- Content and Strategy Manager Luciana Olivares, who was responsible for devising this bold and never before seen campaign. “These figures have nothing to do with beauty, it is just the opposite. The idea is to bring attention, to find a contrast and for people to react,” Olivares said in Spanish to the news outlet. This wasn’t a lone wolf operation though, Olivares worked closely with the contest organizers to plan a “revolutionary” action that would present “statistics that are really important” and to create awareness to educate Peruvians on these uncomfortable truths that according to Olivares have been “part of the [Peruvian] landscape.”

The unusual display of truth on live television garnered widespread social media praise and all the contestants were hailed as heroes, hopefully, this will help the Inca country to alleviate their gender problems, because according to data from the World Health Organization, Peru ranks third worldwide when it comes to gender violence.

Article inspired by NOLA // Instead of their measurements, pageant contestants gave figures on violence against women