'The bruises don't show' | World News |Axisoflogic.com

Horrifying Makeup Tutorial for Domestic Violence Survivors Sparks Global Outrage

The disturbing Moroccan TV program illustrates how domestic violence is normalized.

A Moroccan TV host is helping women hide signs of domestic abuse in perhaps the most disturbing makeup tutorial of recent memory. The program aired on Moroccan TV two days before the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and has since sparked global outrage.

“Make sure to use loose powder to fix the makeup so if you have to work throughout the day, the bruises don’t show,” the host, Lilia Mouline, said in Arabic on the show. Like any other makeup tutorial, Mouline compared hues and brands of foundation. But her model was a woman who appeared to have a black eye and bruises on her face.

“After the beating, this part is still sensitive, so don’t press,” Mouline advised while applying the makeup on the woman. “It’s a subject we shouldn’t talk about, but unfortunately that’s what it is.. We hope that these beauty tips help you carry on with your normal life," she added.

Over 2,000 people then signed a petition which encouraged signatories to demand action from the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication and Moroccan television service 2M.

“As Moroccan women and as feminist activists in Morocco, and in the name of all Moroccan people, we denounce the message of normalization with violence against women,” the petition said. “We demand severe sanctions against this show, ‘Sabahiyat,’ and the channel 2M.” “Do not cover domestic violence with makeup, condemn the aggressor!”

While 2M issued an apology on their Facebook page, Mouline has defended the program.

“We are here to provide solutions to these women who, for a period of two to three weeks, are putting their social life aside while their wounds heal. These women have already been subjected to moral humiliation and do not need to also have others looking at them,” Mouline said.

“Makeup,” Mouline added, “allows women to continue to live normally while waiting for justice.” At the end of the tutorial on the show, Mouline said she hoped victims of domestic abuse could conceal their abuse so that they could “go to work and do what you have to do.”

The video also explained that the women featured in the tutorial were actors and not actual victims of domestic violence.

In Morocco, according to Human Rights Watch, nearly two thirds of women aged 18-65 have experienced physical, psychological, sexual, or economic violence; In fact, domestic violence is still not a crime in the country.

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