Prestigious international news outlet CNN en Español on Tuesday dedicated an article to the Miss Peru 2017 Pageant for its strong message denouncing the country’s heartbreaking rates of violence against women.
"This Sunday, thousands of Peruvians turned on their televisions to watch the traditional beauty contest. Little did they know the event —which traditionally revolves around beauty and glamour— would portray the harsh reality of gender-based violence," the
piece reads.
CNN narrates how the candidates surprised viewers by skipping the usual account of body measurements when introducing themselves and giving some of the country's grim statistics instead.
"My name is Camila Canicoba and I represent the region of Lima. My measurements are 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the past 9 years in my country," said one of them.
One by one, the models presented the hard-hitting figures: 82 cases of femicide and 156 attempted femicides so far in 2017, one dead girl as a result of sexual abuse every 10 minutes, among others.
A call for action
In this sense, CNN underlined how the 20 plus aspiring beauty queens used the exposure provided by the pageant to raise awareness about this major social issue.
"There is no beauty in these figures. On the contrary, the idea is to raise awareness, to find contrast and to elicit a response from people," pageant broadcaster Latina’s Strategy and Content Manager Luciana Olivares told CNN en Español.
This way, Olivares explained, the channel and pageant organizers were looking for something "highly revolutionary" and "groundbreaking."
She added the point was to "present measurements that truly matter" in order to get Peruvians reflecting on an issue that has unfortunately become an everyday event.
According to Peru's Women and Vulnerable Populations Ministry, there have been at least 175 attempted femicides and 94 femicides in the country between January and September 2017.
"We want the discussion about beauty to be powered by the strength that beauty can have. We want to see women becoming advocates rather than mannequins," Olivera pointed out.
Via Twitter, the initiative was praised by the President's wife Nancy Lange.
"Violence against women has to stop. Thanks, Miss Peru for joining this fight that belongs to all men and women," she wrote.
(END) RES/MVB
Published: 11/1/2017