Apparently sometimes beauty pageant contestants are asked to disclose their bodily dimensions publicly during competition. At least, that’s what typically occurs at the annual Miss Peru show—but this year its participants opted to speak out against female oppression instead.
Buzzfeed News reported that on Sunday Miss Peru 2018 contestants answered inquiries about their measurements with statistics on violence against women in Peru, or the specific city they came from. For instance, Belgica Guerra responded to the question with, “My measurements are: the 65 percent of university women who are assaulted by their partners.”
The script change had been organized beforehand, and images of newspaper stories involving violence against women flashed behind the contestants as they delivered lines such as:
“My name is Melina Machuca, I represent the department of Cajamarca, and my measurements are: more than 80 percent of women in my city suffer from 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 percent of women in our country are victims of street harassment.”
The winner of the pageant, Romina Lozano responded, “I represent the constitutional province of Callaomy and my measurements are: 3,114 women victims of trafficking up until 2014.”