Rachael Smith | Political Reporter
Miss Peru contestants gave gender inequality facts and figures instead of their bust sizes at the pageant and it was undoubtedly an iconic moment in the history of the competition, considering Peru has the second highest rate of violence against women in South America. Several contestants, namely: Camila Canicoba, Juana Acevedo, Luciana Fernandez and Melina Machuca, approached the microphone and instead of stating their bra sizes, they seized the opportunity to educate the audience and fight sexism, not only by providing statistics but by refusing to allow their beauty to be defined by their bust measurements.
The contestants gave figures that went on to awaken and devastate the audience, as quite frankly, these statistics on gender violence in their home country of Peru, were heart breaking. Camila Canicoba who was representing the department of Lima, told judges and viewers that 2,202 cases in Peru of female homicide were reported in the last decade. Juana Acevedo went onto inform everyone that a whopping “70% of women in our country are victims of street harassment.” 13,000 girls, according to pageant contestant Luciana Fernandez, also unfortunately experience sexual abuse in Peru. While Melina Machuca, from the department of Cajamarca, stated that 4/5 women in her city despicably suffer from violence. Other contestants then went on to provide more insight into the way women are treated in their country, expressing that, ”25% of girls and teenagers are abused in school” and that in Peru, 3114 female victims of trafficking have been registered since 2014.
These statistics are certainly terrifying, but the fact that women with influence are actively using their platforms to educate and spread awareness on these issues is a wonderful thing, and even more wonderfully, the ceremony ended on these brave women being asked what laws they would change or introduce in order to battle the ongoing epidemic of violence against women in their country.
