'No space for women on Pakistani Twitter Spaces'

In a Twitter space that lasted for 12 hours starting late Thursday night, Pakistani Twitter users attempted to discuss what feminism means but ended up reaching "no useful conclusion" as the space ended up being dominated by men, according to Pakistani women Twitterati.

The discussion was hosted on "Twitter Spaces"— a feature that allows users to have live audio conversations on Twitter.

On Thursday night, more than 1,500 people joined Twitter user Hanzala Tayyab's space titled,"Hard Talk with Hanzala. Let's Talk About Feminism".

In the space, several Twitter users tried to discuss the implications of feminism in the country. The hosts also invited several popular feminists and women's rights activists on Twitter to join the discussion and share their views.

The conversation starter was the Minar-e-Pakistan incident where a female TikToker was assaulted by 400 men in broad daylight. While multiple participants on the space condemned the event, others resorted to victim-blaming and termed the incident a "publicity stunt." They attempted to justify how the victim, Ayesha Akram, "asked for it" as she was a TikToker.

Users talked about how Akram had invited people for a meet and greet session herself, therefore, she must have "staged the event" to gain more followers.

The criticism was met with reservations from other users in the space.

Further on, users proceeded to discuss what the idea of feminism is and how free women are in Pakistan. Upon this, a man, who called himself Javaid Sheikh on Twitter, proceeded to talk about the "victim card" he said women use. The hosts continued to give space to this particular user despite his "continuous vitriol against feminism," some of the participants told Geo.tv.

The user also reportedly sent an offensive tweet that invited strong backlash from women. Outraged by the response, Sheikh left the space but was once again invited by the hosts to continue talking against feminism, participants said.

Upon the accusation of using the "victim card", a woman participant tried to educate listeners in the space about the ordeals women face on a regular basis, outlining how "men cannot fathom what women go through". Another woman added that men had "no right to invalidate a woman's trauma by belittling her ordeals."

However, the conversation was soon overtaken by men who allegedly proceeded to cut off women who were speaking in the space and "tone-policed" them, according to the participants.

Participants reported that the space host, Hanzala, said to them "calm down you all" and removed and muted women who were speaking in response to a man's "vilifying questions and comments" about women in the country.

The host was also called out by several for leading a discussion largely spearheaded by men with "problematic takes," participants said.

Towards the end of the discussion, a "solution" was reportedly presented by a speaker who asked for women to "adhere to their limits" or "leave the country if they cannot be bothered to follow Islam".

He added that women "are welcome to leave the country and go for "greener pastures because Pakistan is an Islamic country and will remain so", users said.

The discussion was eventually deemed "unfruitful" for the turn it took and Twitter users proceeded to hold alternative spaces to discuss what transpired in the initial space.

While many continued to discuss what the right course of action is, women in alternative Twitter spaces discussed how they were silenced and abused yet again, according to participants.