The #TryBeatingMeLightly photo series is an incredible response to violence against women
A new photography series called #TryBeatingMeLightly has gone viral around the world for empowering women in Pakistan to speak out against a bill that would legalize abuse.
Last week, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) proposed the “Women Protection Bill,” which allows for the “light beating” of a woman if she “defies” her husband — whether that “defiance” is in the form of not dressing the way he likes, turning down sex, interacting with strangers, speaking too loudly, or refusing to bathe after her period. false
The chairman of the CII said a “light beating” should be a husband’s last resort, according to the Washington Post:
Photographer Fahhad Rajper, who lives in Karachi, Pakistan, wrote on Facebook that he started the initiative “to empower women amongst us who work towards individual and collective betterment. It’s an opportunity for those to voice their opinions who can’t or don’t.”
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Posted on Sunday to Facebook and Twitter, the black-and-white photographs feature 12 Pakistani women, captioned with their defiant responses to the bill. Fahhad called on women around the world to join in the movement and the now hashtag spread all over the world as women shared pictures of themselves in defiance of the misogynistic bill.
“[The bill] shows the decadent mindset of some elements who are part of the council,” Islamabad-based human rights activist Farzana Bari told Washington Post. “The proposed bill has nothing to do with Islam and it would just bring a bad name to this country.”
Domestic violence shouldn’t be a “last resort” because it shouldn’t be a resort at all. We wish this resistance wasn’t necessary, and we can only hope the bill doesn’t go through, but we are so inspired Fahhad and by the amazing women of Pakistan.
