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Tag: domestic abuse

  • South Asian men becoming more violent with climate change, scientists claim

    South Asian men becoming more violent with climate change, scientists claim

    According to a study published by JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, the rising temperatures in South Asia caused by climate change has led to a rise in domestic violence inflicted upon women and girls.

    Researchers completed the study by gathering data of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from 194,871 girls and women between the ages of 15 to 49 from countries like India, Pakistan and Nepal between the years 2010 and 2018.

    Their results have shown that with every one degree rise in temperature, there was an eight per cent hike in physical violence, a 7.3 per cent rise in sexual violence, and a 4.9% increase in domestic violence.

    The study has warned that domestic violence is likely to rise by 21 per cent by the end of the century because of the “unlimited emissions scenario”, with India likely to see a 23.5 per cent increase, 14.8 per cent in Nepal and 5.9 per cent in Pakistan.

    A report by Amnesty International has called for global leaders to take action against rising heatwaves in Pakistan, stating that the country was on the “frontlines of the climate crisis” despite producing less than one per cent of planet-warming gases.

    “Despite their small contribution to climate change, its people face disproportionately severe consequences which are often life threatening. Tackling a climate crisis of this scale requires global attention and action. Wealthier countries must make no mistake about the important role they play,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty’s deputy regional director in South Asia.

    The report revealed that after speaking to 45 people in the summers of 2021 and 2022 from Lahore and Jacobabad, where temperatures had reached 52C, the human rights organisation revealed that people complained about heatstroke, shortness of breathe and dizziness, with some needing hospital care.

    People who were interviewed for the study belonged to professions at a higher risk of exposure to heat, such as working in agriculture, brick kilns, factories or delivery men.

    The organisation also shared that 40 million Pakistanis suffer from constant power outrages, while others receive erratic power supplies due to lengthy outrages.

    “People living in poverty do not have access to, or are unable to afford, electricity for fans or air conditioning units and neither can they afford to buy solar panels,” the report said.

  • Survey resurfaces: 40 per cent Pakistani men believe beating wife justified five years ago

    Survey resurfaces: 40 per cent Pakistani men believe beating wife justified five years ago

    According to a resurfaced Demographic and Health survey taken in 2018 by the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), around 40 per cent men agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife.

    However, the reasons for beating were as follows: If she burns his food, goes out without his permission, neglects his children or refuses to have sex with him. Surprisingly, 42 per cent women had also agreed with the statement. Around 34 per cent women, the report reveals, had experienced spousal violence, whether it was physical, sexual or emotional.

    The report states that 28 per cent married women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and 15 per cent women had experienced violence in the past year.

    Up to seven per cent married women admitted that they experienced violence during their pregnancy.

    On experiencing sexual violence, six per cent married women had experienced sexual violence and the most common perpetuator was revealed to be the husband, while 14 per cent women who were divorced, seperated or widowed had experienced sexual violence.

    Moving on to financial stability and empowerment, the survey reported that only 19 per cent married women had been working in the past 12 months, compared to 98 per cent married men.

    Half of the married women who are employed and earned an income, made independent decisions on how to spend their earnings, while 41 per cent made joint decisions with their husband. 76 per cent of working women reported making less money than their husband.

    The survey also found that only three per cent of ever-married women owned a house, alone or jointly, compared to 72 per cent ever-married men.

    The survey sampled from all four provinces including Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, including Azad Jammu Kashmir and FATA. A total of 12,364 women between the ages of 15-49 and 3,145 men had participated in the survey.

  • ‘Stop’: Twitter in no mood to accept Kanwal Aftab’s justifications of domestic violence statement

    ‘Stop’: Twitter in no mood to accept Kanwal Aftab’s justifications of domestic violence statement

    Tiktoker and Instagram influencer Kanwal Aftab was slammed by social media yesterday when during a Q & A on Instagram, the social media star was asked about advice regarding women coping with domestic violence, to which she had responded by saying more women should try to save their marriages and console their husbands rather than seek divorce.

    Founder of Soul Sisters, Kanwal Ahmed, criticised Aftab for encouraging women to fix their abusive husbands by laying the blame of a broken marriage on them.

    After backlash to her statement, Aftab had now uploaded a video where she explained that she was not trying to tell women to endure domestic violence, but was encouraging them to try and work through anger rather than begin demanding divorces.

    After this video, Aftab wrote in an Instagram story that she was deleting the reel, stating she was not promoting or supporting domestic violence.

    Twitter users shared the video on the platform, and criticised the Tiktok star for not understanding the difference between an argument and domestic violence. Couples can have small arguments, and it is perfectly okay to encourage people to work through misunderstandings to overcome them. But domestic violence is a completely different issue, and no woman needs to stick around to endure it to keep her marriage inta

    ‘There is a huge, huge difference between domestic violence and badtameezi,” one user pointed out.

  • Tiktoker Kanwal Aftab slammed for telling 2.8 million followers that women should fix abusive husbands

    Tiktoker Kanwal Aftab slammed for telling 2.8 million followers that women should fix abusive husbands

    Tiktoker and Instagram influencer Kanwal Aftab has been slammed by the internet for telling a fan that women should “support” abusive husbands.

    During a question and answer session on Instagram, Aftab, who has over 2.8 million followers, was asked by a fan how a woman could cope with an abusive husband when she can’t find a good job.

    The influencer responded:

    “Try to support him. Motivate him. Divorce koi rasta nahi hai.”

    This harmful advice was slammed by social media users, especially the Founder of Soul Sisters Pakistan, Kanwal Ahmed, who shared a screenshot of Aftab’s answer and schooled the Tiktoker:

    “Tiktoker Kanwal Aftab with 18.4 MILLION followers wants women to “support” and “motivate” husbands who abuse them. Struggling to understand if that means cheering them on as they punch her? Or leaving a reminder to do it again when they’re done?”

    She also shared another response by Aftab where the user had been asked if she truly meant that women should support husbands while suffering under domestic violence, the Instagram influencer had responded: “Bhain support karien us kay halat ko behtar karne m. Usko sahi karne mein.”

    “Women don’t get married to “fix” abusive men. Or to support and validate their violent behaviour,” Ahmed tweeted.

    Social media users condemned the display of misogyny and schooled the Tiktoker for making irresponsible statements on a public platform.

    https://twitter.com/amnachaudhry03/status/1671206978356404224?s=20

    Why does the burden of fixing the marriage always fall on the woman? Many users had to ask Aftab this

    “Why the “sahi karna” burden always fall on women in marriage. Men are grown up individuals! It’s high we need to understand, if a human doesn’t want to be corrected no one can! And there should be a boundary in marriage! And domestic violence is way far from that boundary line!”

    It is never the woman’s responsibility to endure something as heinous as domestic violence, and we are also shocked at how our celebrities have no issue in turning a blind eye towards abusive marriages, and consistently tell women to endure rather than leave.

  • In the latest really messed up development of ‘Tere Bin’ it turns out that Meerab, Murtasim did it consensually

    We all know that the latest act in the cesspool that is the Pakistani drama circus was the controversial promo of ‘Tere Bin’ which aired last week. The trailer implied that female lead Meerab (played by Yumna Zaidi) was raped by her husband Murtasim (played by Wahaj Ali).

    Twitter users were shocked, tagging the actors, production staff and even the writer, Nooran Makhdoom herself, to criticise the development as deeply misogynist and horrifying. But then, instead of reassuring the audience, Makhdoom decided to fan the flames even more with controversial statements given to Arab News, defending the marital rape by saying that it has been going on for a long time on Pakistani screens.

    Mmmm.. still not a good reason though.

    Finally, the episode has aired and it turns out, the sex was not rape. It was consensual.

    Yes, you read that right.

    We are dragged through the first agonizing 15 minutes of Mariam’s marriage, and her reluctance to open her heart, yada yada.

    And then we are reluctantly led to THAT scene where our favorite toxic jori, Murtasim and Meerab, actually did the deed in a consensual manner, but even that led to a lot of ronay dhonay.

    Twitter was mostly amused but some were horrified at how a once popular show has destroyed itself by pandering to sensationalism. Kudos to them for taking out the marital rape but really, where is the plot going?

    On God this is hilarious

    Chalo iss baat mein hilarious memes tou mil gayien

    https://twitter.com/thatdumbkido/status/1661426180237525023?s=20

  • Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni to star in film adaptation of controversial book ‘It Ends With Us’

    Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are set to star as main leads in a film adaptation of the controversial Colleen Hoover book ‘It Ends With Us’, with Baldoni also directing, Deadline has reported.

    Hoover’s novel has been slammed by bloggers and social media users for romanticizing abuse and championing aggressive and toxic male characters. Users have pointed out that even though the book was marketed as a ‘romance novel’ it depicts an abusive relationship where the female lead, Lilly Bloom, is consistently abused and sexually assaulted by her husband, Ryle, and even highlighted how regardless of this, there are no consequences for the abuser by the end of the novel.
    Recently, Hoover had to cancel the release of the adult coloring book based on ‘It’s End With Us’, after social media users called her ‘insensitive’ and ‘tone deaf’.

    https://twitter.com/mynameismarines/status/1612905524105732098?s=20&t=uE1nNRWsBo-ShR4JwO94qg

    When news of the film adaptation broke out on Twitter, users criticized Baldoni’s involvement in the project, citing his description of himself as a ‘male feminist’. Baldoni had also held a TED talk on encouraging better representation of masculinity on social media.
    “Isn’t Justin Baldoni Mr ‘we have to address the negative ways masculinity is taught/enforced’??? Sir, in what world does that line up with Colleen Hoover/her work? lmao what,” one user wrote.

    “Justin Baldoni is such a promising actor & his opinions are always very interesting to listen to, so why… as a man who spoke up about toxic masculinity and abuse, you’re taking this role…”

    https://twitter.com/venuseIy/status/1618882700869500928?s=20&t=uE1nNRWsBo-ShR4JwO94qg

    “Justin Baldoni crafted his entire image to be a role model to create emotionally open and sensitive young men. And now he’s not just starring in this awful adaptation, but DIRECTING it?? With BLAKE LIVELY??? Insanity”

  • Woman in Lahore allegedly killed by husband, in-laws over domestic dispute

    Woman in Lahore allegedly killed by husband, in-laws over domestic dispute

    A woman in Lahore was allegedly tortured and then murdered by her husband and in-laws, ARY has reported.


    Details indicate that the event occurred in the Nishtar Colony area of Lahore, where a woman was allegedly tortured and killed by her husband and in-laws over a domestic quarrel.


    The woman, who had been subjected to assault, was taken to a hospital where she passed away while receiving treatment, according to a statement from the police.
    On the complaint of the victim’s brother, Nisar, a first information report (FIR) has been filed against the husband and in-laws.


    The FIR claimed that after the torture, suspects Arshad, Ashraf, and Neelam administered poison to the woman.
    Police are conducting raids to arrest all the accused involved.

  • Domestic violence calls increase about 52% in 2021

    Domestic violence calls increase about 52% in 2021

    Punjab Women’s Helpline reportedly received 52 per cent more calls about domestic violence from different parts of the province in 2021 as compared to the previous year.

    In the records, an increase of 38 per cent rise was seen in the number of kidnapping cases. Violence outside homes cases was increased to 563 as compared to 497 in 2021, reports Express Tribune.

    Calls against child marriage increased by 31 per cent. Similarly, the helpline received 35 per cent more calls for custody of children as this year 441 cases were recorded.

    On the other hand, there was a decline in complaints about inheritance share and forced marriages.

    However, complaints against forced marriage decreased by 35 per cent.

    The helpline 1043 addressed the inquiries and complaints related to workplace harassment, gender discrimination, property disputes, inheritance rights, domestic violence, hostels, day-care centres and other facilities for working women.

    Last year, the number of sexual harassment cases had increased up to 300 per cent in Lahore.

  • Pope Francis denounces domestic violence as ‘almost Satanic’

    The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, condemned domestic violence against women as ‘almost Satanic’ during a programme on the national TV channel of Italy named TG5 network on Sunday evening. It is one of the strongest languages he has ever used on any issue.

    He was speaking to panelists belonging to difficult backgrounds, including a survivor of domestic abuse. In the programme, issues such as domestic violence, poverty, and economic impact on citizens due to the pandemic were discussed.

    The Pope expressed his serious concern about a very high number of women who faced abuse and were beaten in their homes.

    He said, “The problem is that, for me, it is almost satanic because it is taking advantage of a person who cannot defend herself, who can only [try to] block the blows.”

    He added, “It is humiliating. Very humiliating.”

    He spoke these words to the survivor of domestic abuse, Giovanna, who shared her experience of escaping from a violent home with her four children.

    He added encouraging words by saying that women who suffered abuse do not lose their dignity.

    He told Giovanna, “I see dignity in you because if you didn’t have dignity, you wouldn’t be here.”

    While addressing the survivor, he urged to keep hope alive even during the pandemic.

    He added a supporting comment, “You are giving an example of resistance, a lesson of resistance to calamities,” he said. “You are coming out better than before.”

  • Gohar Rasheed pens a note for ‘abusive’, ‘spineless’ men, cites a scene from ‘Laapata’

    Gohar Rasheed pens a note for ‘abusive’, ‘spineless’ men, cites a scene from ‘Laapata’

    Actor Gohar Rasheed has penned a long note for abusive men who think “physically abusing women is fine.”

    Sharing a clip from his drama serial Laapata, the Digest Writer star turned to social media and wrote: “I hate the display of physical abuse on television. This is why I have always refrained from doing it in at least my own characters. It’s unfortunate but it has been done so frequently on our television that it’s almost become a subconscious reality for us.”

    The Mann Mayal actor further added: “Apparently, physically abusing women is “fine” and any misogynistic, spineless man can get away with it, just like Daniyal thought in yesterday’s episode of Laapata. It may sound strange but The Thappad scene was the only reason as to why I took up the character of Daniyal.”

    “To prove that oppression is a choice. If any insecure man with his fragile ego tries his so called muscles on you, make the choice that Falak did, without any fear! One tight slap back from a brave woman to such weak man in our society would be a giant leap for women kind”, he concluded.

    “Girls like Falak rock. Men like Daniyal shock,” concluded Rasheed.

    In the video, husband (Danyal) slaps wife (Falak) and she slaps him back with a warning to break his hands if he’ll think of doing that again.

    Featuring a far-famed cast of Ayeza Khan, Sarah , Ali Rehman Khan and Gohar , Laapata airs on Hum TV. The drama is written and directed by Khizer Idrees.