“What if that woman ends up being killed?”
TikToker Kanwal Aftab came under fire for suggesting that women should stay with their abusive husbands.
Taking part in a Q&A session on Instagram, she was asked by a follower for coping techniques when dealing with an abusive husband.
Kanwal replied: “Try and support him. Motivate him. Divorce is not an option.”
Kanwal Ahmed, founder of Soul Sisters Pakistan, expressed her disappointment and questioned if she was implying that women should applaud their abusive husbands and whether they should accept it.
This fuelled the controversy as the TikToker added:
“Support him to improve his condition. Help him become better.”
Kanwal Ahmed hit back: “Women don’t get married to ‘fix’ abusive men or to support and validate their violent behaviour.”
Kanwal Aftab’s views on domestic violence led to backlash as one netizen wrote:
“Extremely irresponsible and callous.
“This is her privilege not to have experienced the trauma so many helpless women go through, speaking. The apathy here is just sad.”
Another said: “I wish more celebrities, TikTokers, and influencers would have the sense to say ‘we don’t have enough information or expertise to give you advice regarding this’ rather than giving half-baked advice on topics they clearly don’t understand.
“What if that woman ends up being killed?”
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? ? pic.twitter.com/zBr8zjW0kw
— Kanwal Ahmed (@kanwalful) June 20, 2023
One social media user angrily said that YouTuber Nadir Ali also makes offensive remarks, posting:
“These have gained overnight fame by making third-tier and unfruitful content and I’m amazed as to how people are expecting a learned response from them.”
Reham Khan, who is the ex-wife of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, also took to her Instagram to voice her irritation about Kanwal’s comment.
Reham Khan advised Kanwal with her own words of wisdom.
She said that although she liked Kanwal, she did not demonstrate women supporting women with her comment. She went on to say that a perpetrator should not be supported for their behaviour.
Reham also encouraged women and urged them to take steps in order to make their lives a better and safer place for themselves.
Addressing the backlash, Kanwal said in a now-deleted video:
“Divorce is not a solution. In a lot of matters, support each other, make each other understand, and instil something in each other’s minds to better a situation.
“Even if my husband has acted poorly towards me, I will wait till his anger cools and then take it up with love.
“When my anger cools, he will talk to me with love and tell me not to do it again. It can’t be that he’s disrespected me and I divorce him.
“Secondly, someone thought I am supporting domestic violence.
“I’m saying, support your husband, and try to better his situation – not support him for domestic violence.”
“A lot of people perhaps did not understand this small thing.
“This was made a huge deal out of and the general population piled on. Even my family members have told me that if anything happens, I must fix it myself.
“Whether it’s the mother-in-law or husband saying anything. You can’t just feel bad and ask for a divorce… You can fix a lot of matters yourself.
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