Miss Peru 2018 Contestants Give Stats On Women's Rights Instead Of Measurements

Contestants for Miss Peru 2018 gave statistics on women's rights instead of their measurements Sunday. The female participants detailed the alarming number of Peruvian women that have been affected by gender violence.

The rise in complaints of gender-related violence has increased in Peru. There has been a 26 percent spike in accusatory reports between January and April this year, which amounts to a total 2,415, according to Telesur. The pageant contestants wanted to shed light on this ongoing occurrence.

"My name is Camila Canicoba and I represent the department of Lima," contestant Camila Canicoba said, according to a translation from BuzzFeed News. "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% of women in our country are victims of street harassment," another contestant added.

Another contestant said: "My name is Luciana Fernández and I represent the city of Huánuco, and my measurements are: 13,000 girls suffer sexual abuse in our country."

A fourth contestant said: "My name is Melina Machuca, I represent the department of Cajamarca, and my measurements are: more than 80% of women in my city suffer from violence."

Violence served as the theme of the pageant. The event's organizers displayed newspaper clips behind the participants as they delivered the statistics on gender-related violence. One featured image included the bruised face of Lady Guile, a Peruvian woman who was allegedly kidnapped by Ronny Garcia in 2012. More than 50,000 citizens participated in a march against gender violence in August 2016.

The pageant contestants were also reportedly asked about which laws they would modify to aid in preventing gender violence in Peru.

"Everyone who does not denounce and everyone who does not do something to stop this is an accomplice," Jessica Newton, the Miss Peru pageant organizer and a former beauty contestant, told BuzzFeed News Sunday.

Newton also advocated for the pageants bathing suit segment, which is where the statistic exchange occurred.

The swimsuit portion of beauty pageants has come under fire by participants and speculators alike. Miss Teen USA eliminated the segment in 2016, which was met with praise from some former Miss USA contestants.

"I don't think they need to be showing off their bodies and revealing that much," Kelly Koch, Miss Iowa 2016, told Entertainment Tonight in 2016.

"I don't think Miss America will ever do away with the swimsuit competition," Sam Haskell, the Executive Chairman of Miss America, told ET in 2016. "It's something that we love to show — how physically fit our contestants are. It's part of the tradition of the organization."