Sunday night was the Miss Peru 2018 competition and this year, the women used their time on stage to talk about an important issue: violence against women.
Traditionally, at the beginning of the show a contestant will introduce herself and also share her bust, waist and hip measurements.
Instead of sharing body measurements, this year, the contestants shared an alarming fact about violence against women.
Some of the facts shared were (translation courtesy of HuffPost):
“My name is Bélgica Guerra. I represent Chincha. And my measurements are: 65 percent of women who attend university are assaulted by their partners.”
“My name is Camila Canicoba and I represent the department of Lima. My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicides reported in the last nine years in my country.”
“Almendra Marroquin greets you, representative of Cañete. And my measurements are: More than 25 percent of girls and teens are abused in their schools.”
The activism for women didn’t stop with contestants. Pageant organizers paired the swimsuit segment of the competition with headlines and coverage from the media on violence against women in the country.
“Everyone who does not denounce and everyone who does not do something to stop this is an accomplice,” pageant coordinator Jessica Newton told BuzzFeed.