This beauty pageant turned into a runway for women's rights
In August, Perú's Minister of Women's Affairs announced that a record 96 women had died because of femicide. In a country already struggling with domestic violence, the report was simply devastating.
On Sunday, contestants at the Miss Perú 2018 beauty pageant decided to use to their platform to amplify that data and bring attention to domestic violence in Peru. In lieu of citing their personal measurements, the contestants instead recited facts about women's rights in their home country.
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You can watch the full moment here (starts at 3:46 minutes).
"My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the last nine years in my country," Miss Perú Lima said when asked to give her measurements.
Other women immediately followed suit.
"My name is Karen Cueto. My measurements are 82 femicides and 156 this year so far," one contestant said.
Miss Callao announced her measurements: "3,114 women victims of trafficking up until 2014."
Miss Lonzano added hers in as well: "the 65 percent of university women who are assaulted by their partners."
The women didn't act entirely independently. The competition's organizers posted clippings of murdered and assaulted women and made sure they were on full display as contestants walked down the catwalk.
In 2016, an estimated 6,000 women were victims of domestic and sexual violence in Peru.
In August of this year, more than 50,000 Peruvians marched with Ni Una Menos to protest the epidemic of violence in their country.
These contestants found their own way to march with them, they just did it on a catwalk.
