ACID ATTACK

An acid attack,[1] also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault[2][3][4]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".[5]Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones. Acid attacks can often lead to permanent blindness. [6]

The most common types of acid used in these attacks are sulfuric and nitric acid. Hydrochloric acidis sometimes used, but is much less damaging.[7]Aqueous solutions of strongly alkaline materials, such as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), are used as well, particularly in areas where strong acids are controlled substances.[8][9]

The long term consequences of these attacks may include blindness, as well as eye burns, with severe permanent scarring of the face and body,[10][11][12]along with far-reaching social, psychological, and economic difficulties.[5]

Today, acid attacks are reported in many parts of the world, though more commonly in developing countries. Since the 1990s, Bangladesh has been reporting the highest number of attacks and highest incidence rates for women,[13][14] with 3,512 Bangladeshi people acid attacked between 1999 and 2013,[15] and in India acid attacks are at an all-time high and increasing every year.

                                          Prevention

Research has prompted many solutions to the increasing incidence of acid attacks in the world. Many countries look to Bangladesh, whose rates of attack have been decreasing, as a model, following their lead in many legislative reforms.[46] However, several reports highlighted the need for an increased, legal role of NGOs to offer rehabilitation support to acid survivors.[5] Additionally, nearly all research stressed the need for stricter regulation of acid sales to combat this social issue

                                      Role of NGOs 

Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been formed in the areas with the highest occurrence of acid attacks to combat such attacks. Bangladesh has its Acid Survivors Foundation, which offers acid victims legal, medical, counseling, and monetary assistance in rebuilding their lives.[46] Similar institutions exist in Uganda, which has its own Acid Survivors Foundation,[24] and in Cambodia which uses the help of Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity.[5]NGOs provide rehabilitation services for survivors while acting as advocates for social reform, hoping to increase support and awareness for acid assault.

In Bangladesh, the Acid Survivors Foundation, Nairpokkho, Action Aid, and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's Community Empowerment & Strengthening Local Institutions Programme assist survivors.[165] The Depilex Smileagain Foundation and The Acid Survivors Foundation in Pakistan operates in Islamabad, offering medical, psychological and rehabilitation support.[166] The Acid Survivors Foundation in Uganda operates in Kampala and provides counseling and rehabilitation treatment to victims, as well as their families.[167] The LICADHO, the Association of the Blind in Cambodia, and the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity assist survivors of acid attacks. The Acid Survivors Foundation India operates from different centres with national headquarters at Kolkata and chapters at Delhi and Mumbai.

Acid Survivors Trust International (UK registered charity no. 1079290) provides specialist support to its sister organizations in Africa and Asia.[168][169]Acid Survivors Trust International is the only international organisation whose sole purpose is to end acid violence. The organisation was founded in 2002 and now works with a network of six Acid Survivors Foundations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Uganda that it has helped to form. Acid Survivors Trust International has helped to provide medical expertise and training to partners, raised valuable funds to support survivors of acid attacks and helped change laws. A key role for ASTI is to raise awareness of acid violence to an international audience so that increased pressure can be applied to governments to introduce stricter controls on the sale and purchase of acid.[170]

Indian acid attack survivor Shirin Juwaley founded the Palash Foundation[171] to help other survivors with psychosocial rehabilitation. She also spearheads research into social norms of beauty and speaks publicly as an advocate for the empowerment of all victims of disfigurement and discrimination.[172]In 2011, the principal of an Indian college refused to have Juwaley speak at her school for fear that Juwaley's story of being attacked by her husband would make students "become scared of marriage".

                              Treatment

Treatment for burn victims remains inadequate in many developing nations where incidence is high. Medical underfunding has resulted in very few burn centers available for victims in countries such as Uganda,[24] Bangladesh,[163] and Cambodia.For example, Uganda has one specialized burn center in the entire nation, which opened in 2003;[24] likewise, Cambodia has only one burn facility for victims,and scholars estimate that only 30% of the Bangladeshi community has access to health care.

In addition to inadequate medical capabilities, many acid assault victims fail to report to the police due to a lack of trust in the force, a sense of hopelessness due to the attackers' impunity, and a fear of male brutality in dealing with their cases.[75] Most of the female victims suffer more because of police apathy in dealing with cases of harassment as safety issues as victims refused to register a police case despite being attacked thrice before meriting police aid after an acid attack.[164]

These problems are exacerbated by a lack of knowledge of how to treat burns: many victims applied oil to the acid, rather than rinsing thoroughly and completely with water for 30 minutes or longer to neutralize the acid. Such home remedies only serve to increase the severity of damage, as they do not counteract the acidity.