Contestants broke with tradition and turned the Miss Peru pageant into a protest highlighting violence against women in one of South America's most dangerous countries for females.
In elegant ball gowns, the 23 finalists in Sunday's televised pageant at the Lima Municipal Theatre gave voice to thousands of women who are victims of harassment, sexual and physical abuse, and murder.
Instead of giving their bust, waist and hip size, the contestants took turns reciting a litany of shocking facts about violence against women in Peru.
So far this year, 82 women have been murdered and 156 cases of attempted murder have been registered against women in Peru, finalist Karen Cueto said from the stage.
The figures highlight Peru's ranking as second only to Bolivia as the country with the worst record of violence against women in South America, according to the Observatory of Citizen Security of the Organization of American States.
Romina Lozano, representing Callao, said her plan would be to "implement a database containing the name of each aggressor, not only for feminicide but for every kind of violence against woman. In this way we can protect ourselves."
In the end, the judges elected her Miss Peru 2017.
Lozano will walk with the other contestants at the head of a march to highlight violence against women in Lima on November 25.
