Sorry there wasn't a "WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE GRAPHIC" message before the above pictures- frankly I don't care. The least you as a viewer can do is inform yourself and spread the message. I'm tired of people ignoring an urgent problem- whether it comes to women's rights, the earth, animal welfare, the refugee crisis, and more- because they don't want to confront the truth because it is too "graphic". Too often people choose to stay ignorant to an issue out of fear of realization. No more- I present graphic material not to scare or scar people, but rather to empower them to do something about it. Acid attacks are sinister forms of assaults that involve throwing acid on primarily women in Middle Eastern countries due to matters such as refusal of marriage or insufficient pay of dowry. The most vulnerable fall victim to these horrific and life altering events, mainly young girls under the age of 20. Acid attacks are prevalent in many countries, including India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Uganda and Cambodia to name a few. On average, the BBC claims that 1500 major attacks are reported worldwide every year- and there are far far more that go unreported. Acid attacks leave victims burned, maimed and disfigured. The depth of their disfigurement depends on the type of acid and how much was used on the victim. Sulfuric acid and mixtures of household chemical items are often used. Acid is known for its highly corrosive nature, making it extremely dangerous when it comes into contact with human skin and results in the skin tissue to dissolve and exposed bone to jun out and melt the surrounding flesh. Acid attacks lead to physical, emotional, and social permanent damage and even death. Many are so traumatized by the extent of their wounds that they may suffer extreme physcoligical turmoil. This further damages the victims’ self-esteem, self-confidence and seriously undermines their professional and personal future. Women find it difficult to find jobs, remarry, or even keep children which may be taken away and sent to more "adequate" parents. Take one acid attack victim who begged the government for an assisted suicide, or "mercy killing", after years of physical and emotional hell she suffered from her husband throwing acid on her entire body. And justice is almost never served. Many attacks occur in rural villages that shield these incidents from the public eye. Often its the women who are beaten and punished after the attack due to her family attempting to protect their "honor". In the film Saving Face, which follows a facial reconstruction surgeon who travels to Pakistan to treat victims of acid attacks, one of the victims of the acid attacks is forced to go back and live with the same man who threw acid on her for almost 5 months!! It's time for all governments to crack down on perpetrators, for such a cruel crime blurs the lines that define humanity.
8 Comments
We become desensitized to mere words and sentences like "a woman after an acid attack can never live her life the way she used to" because we can never picture just how horrific these extremely unjust and unnecessary occurrences are. I couldn't agree with you more on our denial of this cruel reality we live in -- while on one side of the world, women are provided an equal education and opportunity for their futures, women on the other side are forced to submit and stay silent to these gruesome slashes of discrimination and inequality.
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9/16/2016 01:58:51 pm
The voice and sense of urgency this piece relayed to me is something that I don't get a lot of in current articles about world issues. FTFB is 100% correct and it can not be said any better: we must not just talk about global issues, but we must take ACTION!!!!
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Jamie Chung
9/16/2016 09:00:08 pm
I once had to speak out on this issue of acid burnings and honor killings of Pakistani women at a Model UN conference. The topic was madly infuriating not only because we were seeing injustice towards women, but also because there was hardly any publicity or exposure of the victims' stories and faces that spoke of horrific and appalling events occurring in the real world, outside of my conference. It is all the more depressing when people look unfortunately at these Middle Eastern women for having such practices, as the acid attack, in their culture. But let me tell you, NO person wants to have his/her face and body disfigured, and life shamed for refusing to marry or for not having enough money/ property. It's disgusting me to that such practices are existent today and that they are overlooked and desensitized. We need constant advocacy for gender equality to create a world, in which we feel more sympathetic to the pains and sorrows of other people's stories and feel more determined on speak on these issues.
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Adira Kruayatidee
9/17/2016 10:37:07 pm
"It took one second to ruin my life." Zakia was and is not the only one who faces the tragic consequences of being burned. I am entirely on the same page as ftfb and every comment above in regards to this ghastly act. These pictures should be taken in and used to trigger a desire to stop these inhumane occurrences that result from societies where "boys live better."
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Rachel De Guzman
9/30/2016 05:32:00 pm
This is so important. This is so so important. I completely agree with the fact that we are often too afraid to face the "graphic" images and "graphic" truths; we need to face these issues and make a change so that acid attacks don't occur anymore and so that women are not subject to such treatment and treated like nothing. Rather we need justice, education, and change.
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10/22/2016 06:04:03 pm
I can't believe that people can poor acid on women and feel no remorse whatsoever. How could those men not feel the least bit sorry??? They are purposely hurting people they call family, or the women they claim they want to marry. If you truly wanted to marry her you would do everything in your power to protect her in every way possible. These women did absolutely nothing to deserve this- not that anyone can do anything to deserve such torture- and they need justice! I'm so glad you shared this, and showed it like it is. People need to see this and realize that there are very real issues that need to be fixed.
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