How we can stop acid attack
The charity Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) advocates changing attitudes. They say that: “The best way to end acid violence is to prevent it from happening in the first place by addressing its root causes.
Education is critical in 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.”
Minimising access to corrosive substances appears to be the main focus of those attempting to prevent acid attacks.
Currently, there are no age restrictions on buying household bleach or drain cleaning products which contain acid. This means anyone can purchase these products.
we can also spred awaerness on social media.
as an individual, we awaer our child by this violance. Why do acid attacks happen?
The motivations for the acid attacks are all different, but they include:
Hate crime.
Domestic violence or honour-based violence.
Robbery.
Torture.
Punishment.
Revenge.
Terror-related violence.
Conflicts over land ownership, housing and property.
Conflicts between criminal gangs.
according to ASF, acid attacks on men are usually linked with property disputes, professional jealousies, religious discrimination, or revenge for domestic violence by spouse or relatives.
The sick mindset of society is also one of the reasons why such attacks continue to occur.
Another reason for such forms of violence to exist is the lack of education of both men and women regarding mutual respect and human rights, exposure of men to violence since their childhood, exposure to seeing the females in their household getting such treatments from the elder men of the house and unequal gender social norms making it acceptable for men to harm and violate women and that men have entitlement over women. Acid attacks are mostly ‘crimes of passion’ out of jealousy of a man. It is a crime greatly associated with marriage and relationships, most of them being about a man’s ‘honour’ being demeaned by a woman who refused to marry or settle with him.
The internalization of the ‘fact’ that women are lower to men and the ‘property’ of men has led to the degradation of women when it comes to respecting their right to personal choices and opinions.
18% of the acid violence survivors admitted that they were punished for voicing out their opinions regarding property disputes and division by their husbands or in-laws because women are ‘supposed’ to make it through whatever is given to them or pre-decided for them. faced challanges
Physical consequences
Describing the physical damage acid causes to a person is not an easy task but everyone knows how it is.
Acid can burn through two layers of the skin, into the fat and muscle underneath and if the burns are of higher degree, it can go down to the bone and dissolve the bone itself. And it is not a matter to be taken lightly if bones can be dissolved. Surgeries can only restore the basic ability to hear, see, feel and smell but that is also a maybe. In many cases, the nose and eyes which are rebuilt only act for appearance sake.
Psychological consequences
Acid assault survivors face many mental health issues upon recovery. One study showed that when compared to published Western norms for psychological well-being, non-Caucasian acid attack victims reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and scored higher on the Derriford appearance scale, which measures psychological distress due to one's concern for their appearance. The psychological effect can be even more painful to bear, not only for the victim but also for the family. The victim lives with the mental image as a disfigured and unacceptable part of the society and the family lives with the regret of being helpless and unable to help improve the situation. The victim develops various mental conditions like depression, insomnia and has nightmares of the attack. Furthermore, she is treated as an ‘alien’ because even in the so-called modern era, physical beauty is way more desired than inner beauty.
These psychological and mental disturbances have claimed many innocent lives of young women who had done nothing wrong other than distancing themselves from stalkers and creeps. And those who somehow continue to survive have little to nothing left of their self-respect, self-dignity, self-love, self-acceptance and empowerment. Social and Economic consequences
The victims who are unmarried are unlikely to ever get married because society is not broad-minded enough to accept a permanently disfigured woman in their family. We refuse to look at their faces because they are not ‘pleasing’ to the eyes.
They are refused jobs because they do not have the personality the employer is looking for and their presence might negatively affect the profit of a business.
laws
The punishment for the perpetrators has been added to the Pakistan Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure under Section 336-B. Under Section 336-B of the Pakistan Penal code, punishment for offenders can extend up to life imprisonment, along with a fine, which may not be less than Rs 500,000.