A beauty pageant for Miss Peru turned into a demonstration against violence against women. At a traditional moment in the pageant, instead of giving their physical measurements, the contestants one-by-one gave statistics about violence against women in the past few years in Peru. Peru has the second highest rate of violence against women in Latin America. Human Rights Watch reported that 700 women were murdered in Peru between 2009 and 2015. A study by the United Nations report that more than 50 percent of Peruvian women experience domestic violence.
The contest organizer Jessica Newton said of the 150 women who began in the contest, five have been victims of violence including rape. At the point of the contest where the women are asked questions about their hobbies and ambitions the question instead was about what they would do about violence. The eventual winner Romina Lozano said she would plan”to implement a database containing the name of each aggressor, not only for femicide but for every kind of violence against women. In this way we can protect ourselves”
Obviously there was extensive organization among the would-be contestants. These contestants have also committed to continue their campaign for justice, planning to lead a march against violence in Lima later in November 2017.
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