How can women be protected from spousal abuse if they themselves do not consider it wrong? Four out of 10 women in Pakistan think that a husband is justified in beating his wife for at least one of the following reasons: burning the food, arguing with him, going out without informing him, neglecting the children or refusing sexual relations, according to a survey by Unicef.

So if the roti is burnt, it is fairly acceptable for your sister to get severely berated or slapped. And if she is not, lucky her to have such a nice husband! It has become so ingrained in society that nine out of 10 women in Gilgit-Baltistan reported higher levels of domestic abuse, according to a 2020 study in the National Library of Medicine.

A paper by Agha Khan university noted that women’s low education and misconceptions about Islamic thoughts and cultural norms made women prone to domestic violence. Dowry and the patriarchal definition of ‘honour’ help entrench social acceptance of the abuse of women.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 7th, 2022