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Michaelia Cash Condemns 'Abhorrent' Video Condoning Hitting Women

The Government 'will not tolerate lesser standards being applied to certain communities of Australian women'.

Federal Minister for Women Michaelia Cash has described as "abhorrent" a video featuring two Australian Muslim women appearing to condone domestic violence.

The Government "will not tolerate lesser standards being applied to certain communities of Australian women", Cash said in a statement on Thursday.

The video was posted on Facebook last Friday by the Australian women's branch of the radical Islamic political movement, Hizb ut-Tahrir.

In the video, a pannelist identified as Reem Allouche describes the role of men as "protectors and maintainers of women" and suggests that "disobedient" wives can be disciplined by being hit -- so long as it doesn't hurt.

The hitting is described as being "symbolic in nature", and can be done with a "small stick", "twisted scarf" or "foiled handkerchief", Allouche suggests. She goes on to describe it as a "beautiful blessing" from a husband.

"It should not cause pain," she says in the clip.

The full video can be viewed here.

Cash has denounced the video in strong terms, saying she is "deeply concerned" that the main speaker in the video is a primary school teacher, "given the important leadership role she holds with young impressionable children".

"Attempts to teach the next generation of young Australian Muslims that violence from a husband to a wife is acceptable is completely out of touch with community standards and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms," she said.

Labor has also spoken out against the video, with Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek reiterating that domestic violence is "always a crime" and "never OK".

A number of prominent Muslim women have come out in condemnation of Hizb ut-Tahrir's message, including television personality Mariam Veiszadeh, who posted on Twitter that the radical group should "take a hike", and retweeting a video of Muslim leaders condemning all forms of domestic violence.

HT can take a hike.

This is what the Clerics in our community have to say about #DomesticViolencehttps://t.co/yD0xI7dj4C

— Mariam Veiszadeh (@MariamVeiszadeh) April 12, 2017

Muslim television and radio presenter and activist, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, used the video as an opportunity to raise awareness about domestic violence in Australia, tweeting the chilling statistic that one woman a week is killed by her partner in Australia.

In Australia, >1 woman is killed A WEEK at the hands of partner(or ex). Domestic Violence, in all + any form, is unacceptable. End of story.

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) April 13, 2017

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