If you’ve been on Instagram lately you’ve probably noticed the lots of black and white photos flooding with the caption #challengeaccepted and #womensupportingwomen. A challenge might be popping in your Instagram DM or you have been nominated by your close mate . You may be shocked to find that these viral hashtags aren’t local nor regional. About 8 million post have been swarming in Instagram globally with black and white filtered photo and hastags .Not any fancy trademark or any fan following ,there is a deeper meaning than what most of us might think or anticipated .
This is Pinar gultekin from turkey her obituary reads the 27 year old was found dead after a five-day search and her ex-boyfriend reportedly confessed to killing her she is one of the many reasons behind
the viral hashtags millions of women around the world have been posting black and white pictures
with the hashtags challenge accepted and women supporting women as a show of women’s empowerment ,but who started it . The First post the Instagram could surface was from a week and a half ago by Brazilian journalist anna Paula Padreoher caption reads “ze fuel site” which means challenge accepted. Soon women in turkey began sharing black and white photos recently with the hashtag women supporting women to raise awareness about injustices against women in turkey turkish philanthropist zeke and rochelle explains .
Why Black and White
Due to the incidence of Femicide at alarming rate in Turkey, the women over there are obliged to see black and white pictures of dead women in TV screen, new paper, web articles and even in instagram feed. Black and White filter was used as a gesture to Women supporting women to raise awareness about injustices against women in turkey
Femicide women unfortunately become accustomed to seeing black and white photos of women who were killed by men according to turkish publications at least 146 women have been killed by men
in turkey in the first half of the year rochelle says these black and white photos show that we too could be the next victims and for that reason women need to support each other and stand together
On a global scale then the trend hit the us celebrities like Carrie Washington and Khloe Kardashian accepted the challenge posting i am awed by the power of women loving each other and lifting each other up and to all my queens let’s spread love and remember to be a little kinder to one another there’s no obvious social justice bent in the us other than to encourage other women critics of the challenge in the u.s have called it an empty gesture that’s clogging up social media feeds during
dual crises of protests and Covid those participating defend the photo challenge as a harmless way to support their friends and take a breath from those crises the original hashtag women supportingwomen now has over 8 million posts the hashtag challenge accepted has nearly6 million posts and growing back to you
In Context to Nepal
Femicide and Gender Based Violence (GBV) is not a new topic for Nepalese . Women have been suffering from long decade ago. GBV can be experienced in mild, moderate and extreme form allover Nepal. Various incidence of women violence such as rape, femicide and sex selective abortion can be seen in Nepal. Even in this period of lockdown , 336 cases of domestic violence are registered.
Taking about the hashtags, it is also being used by Nepalese teens, influencer and celebrities.Nepalese women and girls have been actively participating in this global movement.Celebs like Priyanka Karki etc have posted photos.
How to be part of this global movement .#challengeaccepted
Even though this global movement have around 8 million post flooding over instagram , you also can be the part of this movement. Simply you can invert the color of your selfie /photo to black and white .You can nominate your close friend if you wish. This also gives wider reach. You can add hashtags such as #challengeaccepted and #womensupportingwomen .
Concluding this, the incidence of femicide in any corner of the world is a curse to the humanity. The platform of instagram has provided the voice against femicide in the Turkey, However, femidice is not limited to turkey only. The problem of Femicide must be tackled with strong policy and joint global movemennt .
Hey there, I am Nirdesh Baral, founder of Nepal Health Magazine. I am a Tech geek by passion , Public health practitioner by profession and an Ailurophile by heart and a patriot by birth