Pakistani women take to social media to protest against a proposal to legalise wife-beating

A Pakistani group has drafted a women's protection bill that says that a husband can "lightly beat" his wife if needed. In response, numerous gutsy women are protesting with a photo-based social media campaign under the hashtag  #TryBeatingMeLightly.

The campaign was started by Pakistani photographer Fanhad Rajper, in response to a proposal by the Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body of clerics and scholars which advises the government. 

The draft bill recommends that a husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she refused to dress properly, talks to strangers, speaks too loudly or gives money to people without his permission. It also asks for a ban on women in combat, receiving foreign dignitaries and working in advertisements. The draft has been widely criticised by activists and sections of the media.

#TryBeatingMeLightly is an initiative to empower women amongst us who work towards individual and collective betterment," Rajper wrote on Facebook. "It's an opportunity for those to voice their opinions who can't or don't."

Rajper's Facebook album on the campaign has received over 850 shares, with Pakistani women of all ages coming forward with their gutsy responses to the bill.

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