America’s Aggression Has Come Home to Roost

For the last 25 years, the United States has wielded its power across the globe with a mixture of arrogance, hubris and violence. From Iraq to Afghanistan, from drone strikes in Yemen to regime-change efforts in Libya and Syria, America’s military and political machinery have projected dominance with impunity. But today, as the second Trump administration consolidates power with an increasingly authoritarian bent, many Americans are discovering that the aggression their government so casually inflicted on others is now being turned inward.

This shift feels less like a sudden change than an inevitable consequence. For decades, the United States has treated aggression, both military and political, as a legitimate tool of statecraft. The so-called “War on Terror” normalised surveillance, indefinite detention and drone strikes without trials. Torture at black sites, secret CIA prisons and the erosion of habeas corpus became not just strategies but accepted practices in the name of national security. The assumption, of course, was that these measures were necessary evils directed at enemies abroad, that the United States could keep its imperial ambitions separate from its democratic ideals at home. That was a fantasy.

Exporting violence and domination overseas was always going to lead to these same tactics being deployed at home. The militarisation of American police forces over the last two decades is a direct consequence of wars fought abroad. Weapons and equipment designed for Fallujah and Kandahar now patrol American streets. SWAT teams armed with surplus military gear respond to domestic protests and drug raids with the same aggression that once targeted insurgents. The language of counterterrorism — surveillance, infiltration and pre-emptive strikes — is now being used against political activists, journalists and dissenters.

The second Trump administration appears determined to complete this transformation. Trump's first term laid the groundwork, fanning the flames of nationalist sentiment, demonising immigrants and political enemies, and encouraging violent responses to protest and civil unrest. Now, with the levers of power firmly in hand and a judiciary shaped to his liking, Trump and his allies seem poised to push America's post-9/11 playbook to its logical endpoint: domestic authoritarianism under the guise of law and order.

The Bipartisan Consensus on Aggression

What makes this moment especially damning is that the road to domestic authoritarianism was not paved by Trump alone. For all the liberal outrage about Trump’s rise and his brazenly anti-democratic tendencies, the core mechanisms of American aggression, and their gradual extension into domestic life, were built and maintained by both Republican and Democratic administrations alike.

Barack Obama, for example, campaigned on ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but instead expanded the use of drone warfare to unprecedented levels. He oversaw the extrajudicial assassination of American citizens overseas and dramatically increased the surveillance state’s capacity through the NSA's global monitoring programme. His administration prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined, a clear signal that transparency and dissent were threats to the state.

Joe Biden, despite his more measured public persona, largely maintained continuity with Trump-era foreign policy. He conducted drone strikes in Syria and Afghanistan, supported Israel's brutal military actions in Gaza and authorised military aid to authoritarian regimes under the guise of strategic alliances. His handling of domestic protests mirrored the aggressive posture of foreign conflicts. During the George Floyd protests, Biden, much like Trump, endorsed militarised policing and the deployment of the National Guard to suppress unrest. The message was clear: force, whether used at home or abroad, remains the preferred tool of governance.

The continuity between Democratic and Republican administrations on matters of war, surveillance and policing exposes an uncomfortable truth. Trump is not the aberration that many liberals wish to believe. His rise is not a break from America's political trajectory but an acceleration of it. The American empire has always functioned through violence, intimidation and control. Trump merely stripped away the thin veneer of moral justification and exposed the underlying machinery.

Why Americans Are Finally Paying Attention

The irony, of course, is that much of the American public has only now begun to object, not because these tactics are new, but because they are finally being felt at home. When drone strikes annihilated wedding parties in Yemen, when Guantanamo prisoners were held for decades without trial and when police in Baghdad fired on protestors with American-made weapons, there was little mass outrage in the United States. After all, these actions were committed in the name of “national security.”

But now, the same militarised police forces are turning their guns on domestic protesters. Surveillance technologies once deployed against suspected foreign terrorists are now being used to monitor American citizens. Laws designed to combat extremism abroad are being rewritten to apply to domestic political dissidents. The strategies refined in Iraq and Afghanistan — counterinsurgency, psychological operations and the criminalisation of resistance — are now being deployed not in Kabul, but in Portland, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

The discomfort that many Americans now feel is not about the morality of these tactics; it is about proximity. When Black Lives Matter protesters were teargassed in Lafayette Square, it was not a new kind of violence. It was the same playbook that the United States military used in Fallujah. The difference was that this time, the violence was directed at Americans.

Public apathy towards America’s foreign aggression was built on the assumption that this violence could be contained, that it would remain directed at brown and black bodies in faraway places. Americans tolerated drone strikes, torture and extrajudicial killings because they were happening to “other people.” Now that the guns and surveillance systems have turned inward, the public is awakening to the reality that aggression, once normalised, cannot be confined to distant shores.

The Empire Turns Inward

The second Trump administration is not creating anything new; it is simply accelerating a long-standing imperial process. America has been an empire for decades. The consequence of empire is that eventually the methods of control used abroad must be applied at home. Surveillance, militarisation and suppression are not anomalies; they are the predictable outcome of a state that has relied on aggression as its primary mode of engagement with the world.

If Americans are finally awakening to this reality, it is not because the system has changed; it is because they are finally feeling the consequences themselves. The state’s violence has come home. The same justifications that allowed the United States to kill, imprison and monitor foreign nationals without consequence are now being deployed against Americans. The empire, in other words, is finally feeding on itself.

The question now is whether Americans, having ignored this violence for decades when it was inflicted on others, will resist it when it is directed at them. The signs are not encouraging. After all, the tools of empire — fear, division and militarised control — remain as potent as ever. Americans may now understand what it feels like to be on the receiving end of American power, but whether that understanding will lead to meaningful resistance or simply deeper submission remains to be seen.

Review: With Love, Meghan

To say that Megha Sussex’s new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan embodies everything I was expecting like a warm hug is an understatement. Whilst I didn’t quite binge watch the show in one sitting, I did get through it quickly and enjoyed the whole experience.

There are no groundbreaking revelations or sudden, life-shaking epiphanies — but that’s not what With Love is about. It’s a calm, easy, gentle show that happens to touch on several things that Meghan is passionate about and which reflect the current stage of life she is in. From sharing recipes with friends to learning from other guests, as well as delving into beekeeping and harvesting honey, to exploring the farm-to-table movement, the show centres on the theme of hosting. Everything from the food to children’s birthday party décor, lavender towels to the ‘guest experience’ when hosting guests at home, are offshoots of thoughtful, guest-centred hosting. That’s it. That’s the sum total of this show. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Like any show, With Love has found its audience. It won’t be for everyone, but nothing ever is.

I liked that the camera crew were involved in the show and part of the conversation. Seeing them try the food and offer their opinions is a significant departure from other shows like this, where the crew is usually never seen or heard. The little personal tidbits from Meghan throughout were a nice and personable touch — hearing her speak about her own childhood and growing up mostly on fast food, to learning that Archie likes to watch sun tea brew and that Harry is a big fan of fried chicken; none of these are grand reveals, but they each add to the overall sense of personal warmth and invitation that the show exudes.

What I really enjoyed, however, are the simple yet effective ideas the show gave me for how I can incorporate joy into my everyday life. I had never considered making my own fruit preserves, but it’s incredibly simple to do, so that has been added to my list. Meghan is a huge fan of flowers, as am I, and I even tend to buy bouquets for my house ‘just because.’ Yet I hadn’t really thought about how the style of vase affects the overall look and feel, or about mixing and matching between different bouquets to create something new. I have no interest (at this time) in becoming a beekeeper, but making beeswax candles looks simple enough — so that’s another addition to my list.

And the recipes. I mean, kimchi watermelon and pickled strawberries? Not something I would have thought of, but why not? The focaccia is a definite yes, though perhaps with different flavours. Meghan was clearly very serious about her love of crudité platters, especially for her kids, but again, it’s not difficult to chop vegetables and add a dip; the trick, which Meghan repeatedly highlighted, is in the small touches, the details that let others know you were thinking of them.

As she said in one episode, ‘We’re not in the pursuit of perfection. We’re in the pursuit of joy.’ So here’s to more joy.

What's in a Name?

It seems obvious when you think about it. Your name is your identity. It’s how you are known to the world and often carries with it a lineage or history, a story of how your name came to be, and childhood memories perhaps of learning how to say and write, in wonky crooked childish writing, your name for the first time.

But when your name comes from a culture and background that isn’t the dominant culture you are surrounded by, it can mean different things. Most commonly, it can mean people getting your name wrong - wrong pronunciations, wrong spelling, and wrong emphasis. And that can lead to a whole host of internalised reactions.

It started young - the first time I heard someone completely butcher my name was a teacher in school - a male teacher whom, I, as a shy, people-pleasing, well-behaved child, found intimidating. I never corrected him and in my mind, it never occurred to me to call him out and make it clear that he got it wrong, and how to say it correctly. Instead I let it go, because ‘good girls’ didn’t make a scene or cause trouble, and ‘good girls’ did what they were told. I lived with this teacher getting my name humiliatingly wrong for the rest of the school year, and later, when I was a few years older and in his class again, we went through the same rigmarole a second time. I hadn’t at this point really come into myself and understood who I was, or what my boundaries were, or how to make people listen. So I accepted it when I shouldn’t have.

Unfortunately, this continued into my working life. Not everyone was getting my name wrong - in fact, most people got it right - mainly because they listened when I introduced myself and remembered how to say it. But once I joined the working world as an adult, still the same shy, people-pleaser I had always been, there were still people who just could not seem to listen or wrap their heads around a straightforward, three syllable name, that was spelt how it was said. It amazed me multiple times that people in roles far senior to me, demonstrated repeatedly their inability to pay attention so often.

Getting a ‘different’ name wrong verbally might be one thing - getting it wrong in writing when the person in question has literally written it out for you clearly and signed off their emails with the name they want to be called, only for you to use their surname (I can only wonder why), get the spelling wrong (see above, it’s been written for you), or repeatedly use another random name altogether, smacked of the disrespect and erasure that in my naivety, I had thought adults would be well past. Add to this, the insistence of some people in abbreviating my name without my permission or addressing me with a nickname I didn’t approve of, all of which was done, by their own admission, for their ease and convenience. As though their preference of what to call me was of greater importance than how I would like to be addressed. Names indicate identities - they do not exist at the pleasure of others moulding you to fit around their wants.

It has only been in the last few years that I have become unapologetic and loud about my name. Getting it right means something. And considering that the people who get my name wrong all share the same demographic (think race and gender), it has really made me far less tolerant of that demographic and their ‘mistakes.’ I know from personal experience having pronounced someone’s name wrong accidentally and having immediately apologised and corrected myself, (that person being of the same group that consistently gets my name wrong), I was not given any grace or leeway for my mistake. Instead the acerbic and cutting response was swift and sharp enough to slice stone. Thankfully nowadays I am firm believer in responding with the same energy I receive so these interactions tend to end differently now.

My name deserves respect and acknowledgement. If you are not able to take the time to learn and pronounce my name correctly, please do not expect me to tolerate your dismissal and disrespect of me. I will call you out, however uncomfortable it makes you feel.

A Reflection on 2024

To say that 2024 has been a revelation is an understatement. It has been the strangest year of huge, world-changing events juxtaposed with quiet, personal reflections and moments.

The continuation of what began in Gaza in October 2023 with no end in sight has been the final nail in the coffin of what began, for me, at the age of 11, following the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq by the USA. To say that I fully believe and accept that the entire international order of ‘human rights’ and ‘law and order’ has ended, is without question. For those of us who come from backgrounds that have long felt, and continue to experience, the side effects of brutal colonisation, it is a strange place we occupy. I, for one, find it incredibly disconcerting to be surrounded by a majority of people for whom the world seems to start and finish at their front door. Being emotionally connected to people who live thousands of miles away, and yet, are dearer to me than those who live around me physically is a concept that I suspect, the majority of British (read White British) people, will never fathom.

At the end of each year I try to reflect on what my goals were for the year and what I have achieved. I started doing this a few years ago, and it’s been very helpful (courtesy of vision boards and goal setting), to stay on track for the year. Many of my goals this year were material and I am pleased to say that I have been able to acheive them. There are still overarching, larger goals to accomplish, particularly around spiritual and religious growth which I didn’t manage to achieve but they will form part of my goals for 2025 instead.

Working on the inner self is much, much more difficult than ticking off ‘buying X',’ or ‘travelling to Y,’ but I imagine it will be infinitely more rewarding. Whilst I do have a few smaller material goals, I sense already that my orientation in 2025 will be far more spiritually focused insha’Allah, and I hope that it inspires, motivates and guides me to a far greater degree of inner harmony.

I don’t know about you but I find that I am very visually motivated. Using vision boards has been a gamechanger for me - the only tips I would suggest are to keep it simple and focus in on a few core goals. Don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to do 50 new things. Perhaps choose 5 things that you would seriously love to accomplish and find at least one image or word (Pinterest is amazing for this), which speaks to you about that goal. Revisit the vision board every few months throughout the year. It’s possible you may not achieve everything you wanted, but at least you will have started building good foundations for the following year when you can tick it off.

I have used Pinterest for my vision boards - I tend to keep mine marked 'private’ as they are really only for me. But you could make yours public if that helps you. And try to be broad and aspirational in your goals - some will be easier to achieve than others, but 1-2 goals which will stretch and push you out of your comfort zone is no bad thing. By thinking broadly, I mean to think about your holistic self. Do you want a physical/health goal? Something material you would like to buy, develop or make? What about a life goal - maybe academic, or moving into your first property? How about relationships? If you’re not in a relationship and would like to be, how can you work on yourself and put yourself out there to meet people? Or maybe you’d prefer the opposite and to focus on your personal development? Are you religious and do you have religious goals or a spiritual focus you would like to adopt? Stay as openminded as possible and it should get your creativity flowing.

On an entirely different note, despite having been born and raised in the UK and having lived here my entire life, I am really not sure if I want to spend the rest of my life in this country. One of the benefits of having travelled more in the last few years is that the exposure to new people and communities and ways of life, has inspired me to think beyond the shores of the UK. I am not sure where exactly I will end up or when, or even how, to be quite honest, yet I am convinced that at some point I will do so. And whilst there is a strong pull factor, there is also a strong push factor - the anti-Muslim race riots in the summer of 2024 were enough to show me something that I had always known existed albeit not quite so viscerally.

In any event, as many changes and new things as I experienced in 2024, I imagine 2025 will only have further surprises and revelations in store.

Witness to a genocide

This is perhaps the most surreal post I have ever written. As I write, the Israeli government has begun its genocidal onslaught of Gaza. The images and videos and testimonies coming from Gaza are utterly soul destroying as the world sees, for the first time in history, what the genocide of a people looks like in real time.

We do not know how long we will continue to hear from people in Gaza - the Israelis have declared that water, food, electricity and fuel (all of which Israel controls) will be shut off. The people of Gaza will very soon face a complete media blackout, unable to charge their own phones and laptops, with Israel having banned any foreign journalists from entering Gaza.

The disinformation campaigns have already begun to go viral with completely false stories going viral in Western media news outlets and even mentioned by US President Joe Biden in his speech this week, only to be quietly retracted later, with the damage having already been done.

The pain of witnessing an occupied people trying to survive in what was an open air concentration camp and is now an open air death camp - with c.2 million people living on a strip of land a fraction of the size of London (UK), has truly helped me to understand how it was that the Nazis were able to engineer their death and destruction during WWII. There are no words to describe the absolute horror of what I have seen on social media in the last few days, from the half-bodies of dead children, to corpses lying in the street with their limbs cut off, lumps of flesh and blood where once there were living, breathing human beings.

As a Muslim, I am strengthened only by the belief that the corruption that would be spread upon the earth as we move closer to the end of days, was foretold. We were taught of how things would progress and having borne witness to the wars in Iraq and Syria, both of which were foretold, I can only focus on strengthening my iman and praying for the safety of our ummah as we move forward. There is no barrier between the prayer of the one who is opporessed and the One who listens and bayt-al-maqdis is protected by angels who will stand in witness.

That the minor signs of the Final Day are coming to fruition slowly but surely and that the major signs will follow is completely obvious to me. The world of geopolitics is being rearranged and one can only wait to see the justice He has promised.

Words for 2023

I wanted to start 2023 in a way that I haven’t started previous years and that’s by seriously thinking about what I’d like to do and achieve this year. As often happens, I spent some time scrolling through Instagram to see what others had planned for the year and I saw one of my favourite influencers, @Iamascia, mention her ‘word of the year.’

Using the same concept, instead of choosing one word for the year, I decided to focus on a few different themes and identify suitable word for each. My words for 2023 are:

Faith.
Love.
Health.

Faith has always been important to me but I think there is a big difference between ritualistic and habitual faith-based practice that tends to happen over time, compared to a more conscious and deliberate connection with spirituality which connects one’s thoughts, heart and actions.
Love for me is not particularly about receiving but about giving. To allow your thoughts and actions to be guided by love is actually very difficult and as someone with a naturally dry demeanour, this one may be the most difficult of the three. Thoughts can very easily drift and become centred on harshness, sarcasm and reaction rather than taking a step back and allowing the best of yourself to come to the fore.
Health is possibly the most ‘typical’ of many a new year’s resolution but that doesn’t make it any less important. My aim is to focus on health holistically this year, bringing together the physical and mental with a particular emphasis on getting to grips with my PCOS symptoms and practicing healthcare which is gentle, nourishing and compassionate.

These are the thoughts I’m taking into 2023 with me. Share your words for 2023 below or any new year’s resolutions you would like to achieve.

Beauty Brands to Boycott

It can be difficult to decide what to say when horrifyingly tragic events take place; in my case, I suffer no such concern. And before I lead you down a path of utter confusion, I am referring to the most recent eruption of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel.

Whilst I hold my own political views about Palestine and the ongoing situation with its neighbour, it is apparent to me that the biggest difference I can make as a consumer, is to avoid businesses which profit from the occupation of Palestine, and therefore profit from human rights abuses.

As an avid beauty product consumer, one of the main areas I can pay attention to is beauty products. I have therefore attempted to compile a list of brands which either: directly profit from Israeli occupation, are owned by companies which profit from the Israeli occupation, are directly or indirectly in support of the Israeli occupation, or brands which decided that when faced with the horror of the human rights abuses against Palestinians, the best thing to do is to discuss anti-semitism and entirely erase any mention of Palestinians whatsoever.

Please be aware that this is not an exhaustive list by any means, I am sure there are many others but this is a list that I managed to pull together.

AERIN

Aramis

AVEDA

Becca

Bobbi Brown

Bumble & Bumble

Clinique

Darphin

DKNY

Donna Karan

Dr.Jart+

Frederic Malle

Ermenegildo Zegna

Estee Lauder

GlamGlow

Jo Malone

Kilian

La Mer

LAB Series

Le Labo

MAC

Michael Kors

Origins

RODIN Olio Lusso

Smashbox

Tom Ford Beauty

Tommy Hilfiger

Too Faced

Lancome

Kiehl’s

Giorgio Armani Beauty

YvesSaintLaurent

Biotherm

HR Helena Rubenstein

Shu Uemura

It Cosmetics

Urban Decay

Ralph Lauren

Mugler

Viktor & Rolf

Valentino

Azzaro

Diesel

Atelier Cologne

Prada

Cacharel

Yuesai

L’Oreal Paris

Garnier

Maybelline New York

NYX

3CE Stylenanda

Essie

Dark & Lovely

Mixa

MG

Niely

La Roche Posay

Vichy

CeraVe

SkinCeuticals

Decleor

L’Oreal Professionnel Paris

Kerastase

Redken

Matrix

Pureology

Aurat March 2020: 'Mera Jism, Meri Marzi'

At the time of publication, the world as a whole is getting to grips with the latest and most immediate threat facing us all: Covid-19, or the novel coronavirus, which has been designated a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

A few weeks ago however, things were much calmer and we celebrated International Women’s Day on the 8th March 2020. As part of this, TFO reached out to supporters of Pakistan’s ‘Aurat March’ (Woman’s March) to see what they had to say about the event.

Here, Mahaa gives us her thoughts:

The International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March every year. On this day, women around the globe celebrate their freedom, independence, and femininity. Just like the rest of the world, Pakistan celebrates International Women’s Day as well.

But in the last three years, Pakistani women are not only celebrating this day but are also marching for their rights. For the march, Pakistani women will leave their homes to demand their rights directly to authority. In the last two years, the Aurat March has developed into a confrontational program against the patriarchal constructions of society, causing a strong backlash against the participants and organizers of the march.

The Concept Behind This Year’s March

As stated above, this protest for women’s right started three years ago when a couple of equality activists for women, coordinated groups in Pakistan and decided to hold a march on March 8, International Women's Day. These wonderful steps were taken by these groups not only to provide the platform on which to express women’s thoughts and their rights, but also raised the response to women's rights, which society was overlooking brutally.

This group of female equality activists’ essential ideology was that the march could not be underwritten by NGOs or establishments. The marches are planned and premeditated to be diverse and take place in the main cities of Pakistan, including Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta.

The aim of the march was to highlight and stop the various acts of violence and harassment women face in their daily lives.  The organizers of this program encouraged an Aurat March strategy which challenged restorative culpability and justice against the violence directed at women in the workplace, at home, in public spaces, abuse, rape, sexual harassment, forced marriages, honor killings, acid attacks, pay disparity and inheritance rights among other human rights violations. It also promoted economic justice, inclusion, and access to public spaces for all. The Aurat March provided a new stimulus to the feminist program in Pakistan, but with that, it put the planners and participants at risk.  

The Aurat March unfortunately faced negative consequences and strong criticism last year from those who refuse to realize and understand the value of this action. Many women received death threats and threats of rape. This clearly demonstrated to me that people with this mentality feel that threats are the correct way to “handle” women who ask for their rights.

“Mera Jism, Meri Marzi” (My Body, My Choice)

The motive and concept behind this slogan was to highlight the issues women are facing in their professional and personal lives, and that it is necessary and correct for women to ‘say no’ and stand up for their rights.  One of the march’s organizers felt that a march with this particular slogan would be very effective, as it allowed women to be vocal about how they tackle real life problems, as part of a societal group that suffers from the most violence.

Women are the main victims of violence but the women who attended the Aurat March also typically belong to a very specific segment of society; one which is educated, is free to choose how they dress, and has the means and independence to go anywhere. This limits the experience of the participants to an affluent and privileged group - they alone cannot make this movement important and effective.

Why was the Aurat March so significant in Pakistan?

According to research of sexual harassment and violence cases, data has shown that on a daily basis, women face sexual harassment and forced marital rape in Pakistan. 

The main motive of this protest march is to provide women freedom and free them from the fear of sexual harassment and inequality.  This includes dressing as they choose and independently going wherever they want. The cultural restrictions and enforced limitations should be lifted. Women should be supported to have the courage to report sexual harassment on their campuses and in their workplaces.

For this undertaking of awareness to be effective, the organizers should work towards attracting victims of abuse and violence to the Aurat March, and along with them, present their demands with their consent and consensus.

The Aurat March also encourages real victims at the March which will make people realize the seriousness of the issue of women's limitations. The minute the real sufferers join the demonstration and tell their own stories, people who do not believe that authoritarianism against women occurs, will be able to re-evaluate their statements and will hopefully be led to believe that issues related to women are prevailing difficulties in society.

Correlating Issues

An amazing thing that occurred at the March was in seeing the transgender community join the protest which is a historic step forward as their rights have been previously neglected badly. One of the picketer activists, Shahzadi, said that she turned down requests from the trans community to appear at the march last year even though the first Aurat March was held two years ago. However, the trans community has been neglected and she wanted to highlight the issues they suffer in Pakistan and commented that, "Unfortunately, no transgender rape law has been made in Pakistan to date," and she wanted to request authorities to consider this request.

She also protested that their community is often humiliated by the police when they go to make a formal complaint also known as an FIR (First Incident Report). She demanded that this issue be resolved with strong political interference. They added that the government has announced steps since 2010 but no implementation has been seen, and the transgender commission has not been formed. In addition to that, the trans community is very aware that there is no separate prison and facilities for their community, which is considered a necessity due to the level of harassment and abuse they face.

Another long-awaited point which was raised at the Aurat March was of women's reproductive rights and matters to do with women’s bodies. As women, we have the right to take care of our bodies as we see fit and our reproductive and sexual cycle is a fundamental human right. In addition "in Pakistan, the maternal mortality rate is 299, per 100,000 live births, which is a cause of extreme shame for us. Every 37 minutes a woman dies," and this often happens due to a lack of high-quality reproductive healthcare and sadly, there is no legal mechanism in place to tackle this head-on.

We hope and pray that this protest brings some positive changes in our society towards women’s rights. We hope to see no more cases like Zainab or similar cases to children like her. We need to put a stop to sexual harassment and violence against women. Whether it is at home or in the workplace, we have to stand up for our rights.