Almost 90% of Pakistani women suffer from some sort of abuse. Things got so unfortunate that last year, a powerful constitutional body proposed that men be legally allowed to “beat lightly” a woman.

Compounding the issue, shockingly more than 42% of Pakistani women actually believe that they are weak. This percentage does not only include rural, uneducated and the poor. Rich, educated and urban citizens are just as much a part of this problem.

In this heavily patriarchal society, our objective was to change cultural mindset by generating conversation amongst the media and influencers, and to empower women to feel stronger, while emphasizing to men that women are not as weak as they are perceived to be.

Even anti-domestic violence campaigns in Pakistan portray women as frail, going as far as requesting men not to beat women. This strategy wasn’t working, and we had to do something drastic.

For the first time, an anti-domestic violence film invites men to beat women. We

open with women asking to be beaten. In a clever twist though, we quickly

transform the phrase “Beat me” from a submissive retreat to an emphatic invitation by strong Pakistani women, challenging men to beat them. But, at things they’re good at.

We showcase each woman with the script not only building on her

strength, but cleverly relating it to different forms of abuse. A celebrity singer

challenges verbal abuse, saying “Beat with me your voice”, the Pakistani star

athlete and fastest woman in South Asia challenges physical abuse saying “Beat

me with your feet”. The film features a child chess champion, a boxing champion

from one of the most violent neighborhoods in Karachi, a Pakistani climber who

has conquered Everest, the football team captain, ultimately laddering up to the

UN Women ambassador proclaiming "I'm unbeatable.”

We launched on social media with the powerful online film during International Week of Elimination of Violence Against Women, following it with online documentary personal stories of these women's achievements and struggles. Seeded online posts and memes drove our message further.

Every female celebrity casted for this campaign had a specific skill set for which they were picked, and carefully matched with a form of abuse. The campaign featured a child chess prodigy, a boxing champion from one of the most violent neighborhoods, a Pakistani climber who has conquered 7 summits, the resilient journalist who took on fanatics, the football team captain and the UN Women ambassador, amongst others, thus covering different levels of mental and physical skills, and demographics.

Online videos also featured live activation content in which men were challenged to beat a track star's 100m record time, or play a squash champion.