Actress and campaigner Ayesha Omar has strongly disputed the notion that feminism equals hatred toward men, employing a long sequence of Instagram posts to spotlight incidents of violence against women across Pakistan, India and the United States.
“Why does the word feminism bother men so much?” Omar wrote in her caption, accompanying a quote attributed to Nadia Carly that read: “Feminism doesn’t hate men. It hates abusers, sexists, misogynists, rapists, pedophiles, and deadbeats. And good men aren’t bothered by that because they hate them too.”
Omar then followed that post with a series of Instagram stories highlighting very recent incidents of violence against women globally and drawing attention to the circumstances surrounding each individual case.
Her first post stressed the need for men to hold their friends accountable for how they treat women, before moving to individual cases.
Among those she shared was the alleged assault of a pregnant woman in Gujranwala after her family reportedly discovered via an ultrasound that she was expecting another daughter.
Omar likewise posted coverage of public demonstrations in New Delhi after the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park near Kalkaji Temple. Pupils from Lady Shri Ram College and all other Delhi University institutions marched on September 23, calling for greater safety for women and accountability from authorities.
She ended the series by drawing attention to the case now being referred to as the “Cornell Seven” in the United States.
The case centres on allegations made by a former Cornell University student, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, who said she was sexually assaulted by seven students at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
