that sparked a multitudinous Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) march against gender violence in Lima last year.
Public indignation about violence against women peaked before the march in August 2016, when CCTV images of Cindy Arlette Contreras being dragged by the hair through a hotel reception by her naked ex-boyfriend Adriano Pozo were widely circulated on the internet. In March, Contreras was awarded the international women of courage award by Melania Trump, the US First Lady.
The Miss Peru competition concluded with each woman being asked what laws they would change to combat violence against women.
‘Now, nobody can be indifferent to the level of violence,’ said Susána Chavez, director of Promsex, a gender rights organisation in Peru.
‘These competitions focus on many stereotypes about women and judge them by their physical characteristics, but they impact a broad group of women and men that we [feminist groups] do not reach.’
‘We’ve never seen a time when there is more awareness about the problem [of gender violence].’
multitudinous: very numerous
Understand
1. In what country was the beauty contest held? 2. What sort of statistics did the contestants share with the audience? 3. Locate one statistic that may have shocked the audience. Explain your choice. 4. What sort of violence was shown on CCTV? 5. How did the competition conclude?
6. Susána Chavez says that beauty pageants ‘judge [women] by their physical characteristics’. Find evidence in the article to suggest that this is true.
Explore 3
1. In your view, is this an effective way of raising awareness of a serious issue? Give reasons for your answer.
2. We are told that people marched against gender violence in Lima. Suggest one other way for people to take a stand against gender violence or another serious issue.
Create
1. Write an article for a broadsheet or tabloid newspaper using one of the statistics shared above.
2. Write a short story that includes a character who takes a stand against something.
3. Write a poem from the perspective of someone who has experienced fear or intimidation.
