Beauty pageants.

Usually a staple of vanity and the value of looks within the world. But on Sunday, the contestants of Miss Peru formed a protest, giving violence against women statistics in lieu of their hip, waist, and bust measurements.

“My measurements are 2,202 cases of feminicide reported in the last nine years in my country.”

“My measurements are: more than 25 percent of girls and teenagers are abused in their schools.”

All 23 contestants gave gender violence statistics. In a country, where this pageant is up there with football in this Latin American country, the whole tradition was turned on its head by the women. The whole show was a protest. The contestants during Q and A were asked how to combat feminicide, objects representing the murder played behind them as they walked the stage during the swimsuit portion. The protest was organized by Jessica Newton, Miss Peru 1987.

In Peru, rather the entire continent, there is a high amount of crimes against women. Crimes still on the rise year after year. Such a trend has sparked “Not One Less,” a protest group meant to spark action against the skewed amount of crimes against women.

These protests were sparked by the murder of Daiana Garcia, found dead and in a dumpster in 2015.

The idea of conversation, especially in a place where almost all women are murdered by men and thousands of women in the past years–2,000–were slain, is vital.

It is another instance in history were silence equals death. These women are working for the safety of themselves and the girls who will follow them in history.