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WOW2: December 2023 Women Trailblazers and Activists – 12-17 thru 12-24 [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-12-16
December 19,
2020
– In Pakistan, f
ilming started on the new series of Conversations With Kanwal , in which presenter Kanwal Ahmed, 31, sheds light on issues that are rarely talked about within families, let alone in the public arena.
The show was saved by its determined fans. Kanwal Ahmed had launched a women-only forum in 2013 called Soul Sisters Pakistan (SSP), where members could
discuss taboo subjects like domestic violence or femicide without fear of retribution. It also gave women the freedom to talk about anything from sex and relationships to Netflix and cooking tips. Pakistan is such a
religiously and socially conservative nation that posting a selfie can result in a so-called “honour killing.” SSP became a lifeline for its members, who dubbed themselves “Soulies.”
The idea for the forum came about when Ahmed was working as a bridal make-up artist and found herself often dishing out advice to young women on everything from sex to handling in-laws. “Many women don’t have anywhere to get information about sex and relationships and for many, their first experience of both may be on their wedding night,” said Ahmed. “It’s considered an act of shame to talk about something as intimate as sex. It’s ironic, because the word marriage is on everyone’s mind when a girl turns 18, but sex, body rights, contraception are hardly ever discussed with her. We grow up with biology books stapled to hide the reproduction section.” SSP now has more than 250,000 very active and vocal members, the majority aged between 18 and 35. It was important to Ahmed that SSP should be an inclusive space for women of all backgrounds, including religious minorities, but any platform that unites such a diverse range of women will face controversy. Many conservatives have accused Ahmed of promoting “promiscuity” and “wild behavior.” In 2018, Ahmed was selected as a community leader by Facebook, in recognition of her efforts to use the social network to help others. She used their grant to launch Conversations with Kanwal on YouTube. “I wanted the things we championed for in the group to be talked about outside of it too
… It was empowering for women to watch these stories and know they were not alone.” While the grant sustained the series for two seasons, it wasn’t enough to keep the show going, but despite hitting 30 million views – matched only by the most popular soap operas – and most mainstream channels refused to touch the format because it was deemed too controversial, while others found it too hard-hitting and wanted Ahmed to add a “beauty segment,” or comedy skit. So Ahmed launched a Kickstarter campaign through SSP. Donations flooded in, from a few rupees to thousands. In less than a week, fans raised over five million rupees ($66,337 USD), a remarkable achievement since the majority of SSP fans live in Pakistan, where fewer than 30% of women are employed, and most are financially dependent on their husbands or fathers. “
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