Beauty Pageant Contestants Gave Out Facts About Women’s Rights as Their Measurements Karla Zabludovsky - BuzzFeed News
go to original November 10, 2017

The organizers of Miss Peru 2018 displayed newspaper clippings of prominent cases of murdered and assaulted women as the contestants made their way across the catwalk in bathing suits (Youtube)

Beauty pageant contestants are used to giving their measurements - bust, waist, hip - in front of a crowd.

But in Peru, where women are getting killed in alarming numbers, aspiring beauty queens used their moment on the stage last month to give a different kind of measurement: how many people have been affected by gender violence.

“My name is Camila Canicoba and I represent the department of Lima. My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the last nine years in my country.”



“My name is Juana Acevedo and my measurements are: More than 70% of women in our country are victims of street harassment.”



“My name is Luciana Fernández and I represent the city of Huánuco, and my measurements are: 13,000 girls suffer sexual abuse in our country.”



“My name is Melina Machuca, I represent the department of Cajamarca, and my measurements are: More than 80% of women in my city suffer from violence.”



“Almendra Marroquín here. I represent Cañete, and my measurements are: More than 25% of girls and teenagers are abused in their schools.”



“My name is Bélgica Guerra and I represent Chincha. My measurements are: the 65% of university women who are assaulted by their partners.”



“My name is Romina Lozano and I represent the constitutional province of Callao, and my measurements are: 3,114 women victims of trafficking up until 2014.”



The problem extends beyond Peru. All across Latin America, a movement called #NiUnaMenos, or Not One Less, has been drawing thousands of women to the streets to demand an end to gender violence.

Read the rest at BuzzFeed

Related: Video of Beauty Queens Talking Violence Against Women Mid-Pageant Is Inspiring (Elite Daily)

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