#TryBeatingMeLightly: Pakistani women fight back against Council of Islamic Ideology
Pakistani women have reacted angrily online to a proposed law to allow husbands to "lightly beat" their wives.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) advises the Pakistani government and has suggested a law to help men keep their wives in line.
"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," CII chairman Muhammad Kahn Sherani told the Express-Tribune newpaper.
"A bit strict" was clarified by the group: "A husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires; turns down demand for intercourse without any religious excuse; or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods."
Women across Pakistan have reacted furiously to this suggestion, framed in a bill entitled the Women Protection Bill.
Photographer Fahhad Rajper created a portrait series of women who described what they would do if someone beat them lightly.
The album posted on Facebook started a trend across Pakistan and around the world based around the tag, #TryBeatingMeLightly.
Some mocked the law.
#TryBeatingMeLightly a couple eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper, a bit of red chilli, and fry it.
— Amna Abbas (@AmnaAbbas) May 31, 2016
Real men beat eggs not women.
But many others were more aggressive in their backlash.
#TryBeatingMeLightly and you'll not be left with your hands to beat me ever again.
— عیشہ (@GarbarfiedBae) May 30, 2016
#TryBeatingMeLightly and i will show you what actually beating is....
— Beenish (@bbillawala) May 30, 2016
#TryBeatingMeLightly and watch yourself reduce to just a little man.
— Humaima Malick (@HumaimaMalick) May 30, 2016
Some conservative Muslims criticised the trend and said it was un-Islamic but generally people supported the campaign as a stand against the CII.
It was not only social media that reacted strongly to the suggestion. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was "difficult to comprehend why anyone in his right mind would think that any further encouragement or justification is needed to invite violence upon women in Pakistan".
The group estimates that 70 per cent of Pakistani women have suffered domestic violence. A statement read: "As much as the HRCP wanted not to dignify with any comment the ridiculous CII recommendations regarding 'light beating' of women, the commission thinks it is imperative that every right-respecting person must condemn such counsel unreservedly. The irony of calling the measures 'women protection' should not be lost on anyone."
It added: "We hope and expect that...the draft bill will be condemned unreservedly by all segments of society."
