Miss Peru Contestants Startle Peruvians By Sharing Stats On Gender Violence
October saw several high profile cases of violence against women in Peru. So the beauty pageant decided it was time to speak up. How did Peru react?
On Sunday, October 29, viewers of the Miss Peru pageant were startled when the 23 contestants strutted on stage in sequined gold minidresses, introduced themselves, said "My measurements are..." — and then stated facts such as these: more than 70 percent of all women suffer street harassment; 13,000 girls are victims of sexual abuse in Peru; more than 25 percent of Peruvian girls and teenagers are abused in their schools.
Pageants typically give out a different sort of statistics — about the measurements of the contestants. And so a hashtag was born: #MisMedidasSon (My measurements are) --
It went viral.
