Moroccan TV airs tips for hiding domestic violence

THE smiling woman on the daily Moroccan TV show spoke to viewers as if it was any other make-up tutorial, comparing brands and hues of face foundation and demonstrating how to apply it.

Seated next to her was a woman with what appeared to be a black eye and bruises on her cheekbones.

“After the beating, this part is still sensitive, so don’t press,” the host said in Arabic as she applied make-up on the woman’s face, eventually concealing the bruises.

“Make sure to use loose powder to fix the make-up so if you have to work throughout the day, the bruises don’t show,” she said.

The make-up tutorial, aired on Wednesday on Moroccan state TV, instructed viewers how to use concealer to “camouflage the traces of violence against women”, spurring outrage on social media that prompted an apology from the channel. The segment was broadcast two days before the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Guardian reported.

“It’s a subject we shouldn’t talk about, but unfortunately that’s what it is,” the segment’s host, Lilia Mouline, said in the tutorial. “We hope that these beauty tips help you carry on with your normal life.”

Before naming recommended beauty brands, Mouline reminded viewers that the apparent swelling and black and blue bruises around the woman’s eyes were depicted with make-up, and were not the result of real wounds. She suggested certain foundation tones for most effectively disguising a woman’s unfortunate “beating”.

“Use foundation with yellow in it,” she said. “If you use the white one, red punch marks will always show.” – The Washington Post