"The Survivor"
She was 18 years old studying in grade 11. Life was going on as usual with highs and lows. She had a close friend who had feelings for her about which she was unaware. They were close to each other, sharing each detail of their everyday lives. The guy misunderstood her feelings towards him and thought she also liked him. He never said a word about how he felt about her.
One day the girl found a certain someone who she truly felt connected with and she told this to her best friend. Her friend felt that it was not fair and she didn’t understand his feelings towards her. He felt that she was teasing him while being with someone else and then the guy decided to ruin her life. He threw acid on her face. The girl faced many hardships and challenges and had to undergo many reconstruction surgeries after the assault while the guy was living freely in the society with the satisfaction of win over her body.
Despite the challenges and difficulties, she faced, she didn’t quit but rather took it as a challenge. She thought that it was easier to lose hope but much more difficult to pick up the broken pieces and move forward in life. She believed in herself and moved on becoming an inspiration for many. “I am not the victim, I am a survivor; The man who attacked me will cover his face, I won’t”, she often expressed.
Attack is an aggressive or violent action against others. An acid attack is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill. It is done with the intention of injuring or disfiguring out of jealousy or revenge. It is one of the most dangerous, shameless, and horrendous acts. Victims can be of any age, sex, race, culture, employment, or marital status. Although men and women both are abused, most of the victims are women. Many perpetrators try to throw acid with the intention of taking revenge on the person. They don’t have the intention to kill the victim but to cause long-lasting damage and emotional stress. The reasons for acid attacks nowadays are rejection, revenge, lust, and jealousy among others.
Most of the cases of acid attacks are prevalent in India and Nepal. Between 2014 and 2018 there have been 1483 victims of acid attacks in India and in Nepal, there had been more than 50 acid attacks in the year 2018 to 2019. According to Burn Violence Survivors Nepal (BVSN), Nepali women are often subjected to burn attacks relating to dowry disputes, and when they reject male advances. The organization reports that around 245 cases have been reported since 2010, an average of 40 cases per year. The main reason behind such attacks is the easy availability of concentrated acid in the market and there are no legal restrictions behind buying and selling of it. As it is easily available, anyone can buy from pharmacies, markets, and goldsmith shops. The lack of a strict law against burn violence in Nepal has seen a spike in such crimes.
After years of public protest and efforts by activists, the Nepal government approved a rule to inspect the sale and distribution of corrosive chemicals. The Acid and Other Harmful Chemicals (Regulation) Ordinance 2077 will now require anyone to have a license for the purchase and sale of such products. Also, buyers need to submit details to the Home Ministry within a week of any purchase and sellers have to keep a record of buyers. On September 28, 2020, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari signed two ordinances into law regarding the regulation of acid sales and criminalizing perpetrators of acid attacks. The new law has a provision of 20 years in prison for the culprits. Unfortunately, however, other burn attack victims were excluded from the new provision.
The best way to end acid attack violence is to prevent it from happening in the first place by addressing its root causes. Education is important in the prevention of acid attacks and other forms of violence against women and girls. Prevention should start early in life, by educating and working with young boys and girls promoting respectful relationships and gender equality.