Earlier this year, it looked as though positive steps were being taken by the government in Pakistan when it passed a women’s protection law to make it easier for female victims of domestic abuse to come forward.

But last week, a group that advises the government, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), rejected the Punjab Assembly’s bill on the grounds it was “un-Islamic” and drafted a new 163-page bill that says although any violence that damages bones should be forbidden, a husband should be allowed to “lightly beat” his wife in order to discipline her.

Behaviour that warrants a “light” beating includes a wife wearing clothes of which her husband does not approve, speaking loudly enough to be heard by strangers and turning down sex without ‘Islamic’ justification for doing so, as well as not taking a bath “after intercourse or menstrual periods”.

Pakistani people have not taken to the bill without protest, and one in particular has launched a social media campaign against it: photographer Fahhad Rajper.

Rajper took to Facebook to respond to the bill, posting a photo gallery with captions from women explaining how they would react to being beaten “lightly”. He then encouraged women to post their responses, using the hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly.

#TryBeatingMeLightly: Women respond to draft bill that would allow men to “lightly beat” their wives