Women in Pakistan are outraged by a new bill proposed to the government that would allow men to legally ‘lightly beat’ their wives to ‘discipline’ them.
Muhammad Kahn Sherani, chairman of the council who proposed the bill, called the Council of Islamic Ideology, said that beating your wife should be the last resort, but is pushing for it to be legal. He spoke to Pakistan’s Express-Tribune newspaper.
“If you want her to mend her ways, you should first advise her. … If she refuses, stop talking to her … stop sharing a bed with her, and if things do not change, get a bit strict,”
If all else fails, he added, “hit her with light things like a handkerchief, a hat or a turban, but do not hit her on the face or private parts.”
The Council also advises women that it is ‘un-Islamic’ to leave an abusive relationship and seek refuge at a women’s shelter.
However, the women of Pakistan are not standing for this. Some women have teamed up with photographer Fahhad Rajper, who has taken to Twitter to share powerful black and white photos of the women with captions aggressively opposing the law. They have adopted the hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly to gain traction and start an online campaign against the law.
Fahhad has called for more women to participate in the cause on social media, saying: “This isn’t for me, it’s for all men who as much as get a faint thought of putting a woman down! More power to you.” It has already gained some traction, with women lending their voices against the proposed law.
Fahhad also told The Huffington Post that he believed the proposed law was un-Islamic.
“Islam doesn’t preach [any] such thing, be it for a man or a woman,” he said. “Anyone who’s sane enough wouldn’t be okay with it.”
