On Wednesday, a visibly shaken and heavily bruised senior anchorperson, Ayesha Jahanzeb, knocked on the doors of a police station for protection against her husband, accusing him of repeated acts of domestic violence. As is with other high-profile cases, Haris Ali was promptly arrested and even-handed a physical remand. There remains little doubt about the wheels of justice spinning into high gear and the husband will be forced to face legal consequences of his alleged actions. Nevertheless, the sobtale of yet another victim, especially someone as established and as confident, has sparked discussion in all corners about the vulnerability of an ordinary woman who relies on her partner for her finances and her security. There was a lot in Ms Jahanzeb’s account that must have resonated with a disturbingly large number of women across the country. Even in enlightened households in urban settings, wives are known to turn the other cheek for an occasional burst of toxic masculinity in hopes of a better, sustainable future. Camouflaging anger episodes and dabbing concealer on bruises, these women remain chained to their marriages not out of love or a sense of duty but because of societal taboos. Therefore, when the first woman chief minister of Punjab puts up her hand and says not on my watch, her keen and immediate interest in the well-being of a single victim of intimate partner violence is bound to resonate with thousands if not millions of households. Violence in intimate relationships is, undeniably, a worldwide problem that poses a severe threat to victims’ health and well-being and incurs high costs to societies as a whole. Still, when other countries are trying hard to share the grief of their hurt women, asking their governments to move beyond lip service and take more assertive action to end gender-based violence, Pakistan would have to open its eyes to distressing reports about more than 90 per cent of its women facing domestic violence at least once in their lifetime. *