Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
DESPITE LAWS AGAINST ACID ATTACKS, THE HORRIFIC PRACTICE CONTINUES. IN PAKISTAN, MEN, WOMEN
AND CHILDREN HAVE HAD ACID POURED ON THEM AS PUNISHMENT.
VOA ISLAMABAD CORRESPONDENT SHARON BEHN TALKED WITH VICTIMS OF ACID ATTACKS WHO ARE TRYING
TO PUT THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER. ON ASSIGNMENT'S REBECCA WARD CAUGHT UP WITH SHARON TO LEARN
MORE ABOUT THEIR STORIES. BUT WE SHOULD WARN YOU, THIS SEGMENT CONTAINS IMAGES THAT VIEWERS
MAY FIND DISTURBING.
THEY HAD TAKEN A PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE. THEY HAD BEEN PROVIDED SOME MONEY TO BE ABLE TO
GET A CAMERA, AND TO BE ABLE USE THAT CAMERA TO GO OUT AND PHOTOGRAPH OTHERS, AND SEE THE
WORLD THROUGH THE CAMERA. AND THEN THEY HAD AN EXHIBIT WHERE THEY WERE PUTTING UP THEIR
PHOTOGRAPHS. AND WHEN I FOUND OUT IT WAS ACID ATTACK SURVIVORS DOING THIS, I THOUGHT I REALLY
WANTED TO TALK TO THEM. I THOUGHT IT WAS AMAZING THEIR COURAGE TO BE ABLE TO JUST COME OUT
AND NOT HIDE ANYTHING. AND THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY HERE IN PAKISTAN WHERE PHYSICAL
BEAUTY IS ACTUALLY QUITE IMPORTANT. THEY HAD BOTH GONE THROUGH A NETWORK CALLED THE ACID
SURVIVORS NETWORK.
VALERIE KHAN, CHAIR OF THE ACID SURVIVORS FOUNDATION IN ISLAMABAD, SAYS BREAKING THE
STIGMA OF THE SURVIVORS' SCARS IS ESSENTIAL TO THEIR SURVIVAL.
"IT'S ABOUT REBUILDING YOUR MIND, YOUR SELF-ESTEEM, AND IT'S ABOUT RECLAIMING YOUR SPACE IN THE
COMMUNITY AND IN THE PUBLIC SPACE AS A MAN, A WOMAN, WHO DESERVES AND WILL OBTAIN RESPECT
AND DIGNITY AGAIN."
IT'S JUST SO SAD THAT THERE HAS TO BE AN ACID SURVIVORS NETWORK. SO WHY ACID? HOW DOES THIS
PLAY INTO THE CULTURE THERE?
I ACTUALLY THOUGHT ACID ATTACKS WERE SOMETHING RELATIVELY NEW. BUT THEY'RE NOT. THEY ACTUALLY
DATE BACK CENTURIES. IT'S A VERY OLD FORM OF PUNISHMENT. BUT THE PUNISHMENT ITSELF,
THE REASON FOR ACID RATHER THAN ANYTHING ELSE, IS THAT THE PUNISHMENT IS FOR THE REST OF
YOUR LIFE - THAT YOU WILL BE SHUNNED BY SOCIETY - THAT YOU WILL BE FOREVER MARKED. AND I THINK
WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THESE TWO IS THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO WORK THROUGH, NOT ONLY YEARS
OF SURGERY AND PAIN, SEARING PAIN -- AND AS YOU KNOW MUHAMMED HAD NO NOSE, ONE OF HIS
EYES WAS BURNED OUT BY THE ACID -- NOT ONLY TO OVERCOME THAT BUT BEING ABLE TO OVERCOME
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE AND STAND UP IN FRONT OF SOCIETY AND SAY I AM WORTH SOMETHING. THEY
WERE AMAZING PEOPLE.
AND WHAT REALLY STRUCK ME TOO WAS THAT THERE WERE FAMILY MEMBERS INVOLVED IN THESE ACID
ATTACKS. WHAT IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR FAMILY IF ANY AT ALL?
WELL YOU KNOW FAMILY IS ESSENTIAL TO PAKISTAN, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO PAKISTAN AND TO THE
PAKISTANI SORT OF SOCIAL FABRIC. AND THAT'S PART OF THE PUNISHMENT IS THAT YOU ARE FOREVER
OSTRACIZED FROM YOUR FAMILY BECAUSE YOUR FAMILY IS NOT GOING TO WANT YOU BACK.
I ASKED HER YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HUSBAND, AND SHE ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH THE
LEGAL SYSTEM AND MANAGED TO GET HIM INTO JAIL FOR TEN MONTHS -- AND THEN HE CAME OUT AND
TOOK HER YOUNGER KIDS. SHE WON'T TALK TO HIM. SHE ABSOLUTELY REFUSES TO TALK TO HIM AND
HER DAUGHTER WON'T TALK TO HIM EITHER. AND SHE RETURNED TO HER FAMILY. BUT IN A LOT OF
CASES THEY CAN'T RETURN BECAUSE IT'S SEEN THAT THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG. SO THERE'S
ACTUALLY A VERY COMPLICATED SOCIAL THING THAT GOES WITH IT.
THERE WERE 143 ACID ATTACKS REGISTERED WITH THE ACID SURVIVORS FOUNDATION IN 2013. MOST
WERE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS. NUSRAT BIBI'S BROTHER REFUSED TO MARRY INTO HER HUSBAND'S
FAMILY. SHE PAID THE PRICE. SHE'S HAD 17 SURGERIES TO REBUILD HER FACE AND BODY.
"ANYONE WHO SAW ME GOT SCARED. THEY SHOWED MY PICTURES TO MY CHILDREN TO SCARE THEM,
TELLING THEM THEIR MOTHER WAS FRIGHTENING AND HAD BECOME A GHOST."
I WAS SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT ABOUT 40% OF THESE ACID ATTACKS WERE AGAINST MEN.
I FOUND THAT REALLY SURPRISING. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT MYSELF. AND INTERESTING WITH MUHAMMED,
IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME REASON.
MUHAMMAD FAROOQ REFUSED TO MARRY THE WOMAN HIS FAMILY HAD CHOSEN FOR HIM. HIS PUNISHMENT:
HAVING CORROSIVE ACID THROWN IN HIS FACE.
"IT FELT LIKE WATER, BUT I WAS WRONG. THE ACID BURNED MY FACE AND BODY, MY SKIN SOUNDED
LIKE DRIED LEAVES CRACKING."
THE ACID SURVIVORS NETWORK TOLD ME THERE ARE A LOT OF YOUNG BOYS THAT ARE BURNED WITH ACID
IF THEY REFUSE A *** OVERTURE OF SOME KIND. A LOT OF GIRLS ARE BURNED BECAUSE HERE THEY
TEND TO SLEEP WITH THEIR MOMS AND THEY POUR THE ACID ON THE MOTHER, THE LITTLE GIRLS -- I'M
TALKING REALLY LITTLE GIRLS -- WILL BE BURNED AND DISFIGURED FOR LIFE ALSO. IT'S NOT JUST
THAT ONE VICTIM. IT CAN BE MULTIPLE VICTIMS FROM ONE ATTACK.
OH MY. SO WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING? WHAT IS THE TACT THEY'RE TAKING TO TRY TO COUNTER
THIS?
WELL, THE GOVERNMENT HAS ACTUALLY PASSED A LAW. THERE IS A LAW AGAINST ACID ATTACKS BUT
THERE ARE MANY CASES THAT ARE NOT FOLLOWED UP. BECAUSE IN THE SOCIETY, IT'S STILL SEEN
WELL YOU WERE PUNISHED THEREFORE YOU MUST HAVE DESERVED IT. I THINK THINGS ARE CHANGING
SLOWLY. I THINK THERE'S A GENERAL CONCENSUS THAT THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. BUT IT'S VERY,
VERY SLOW AND THESE ATTACKS ARE STILL TAKING PLACE.
ALL RIGHT AND AGAIN THAT WAS VOA ISLAMABAD CORRESPONDENT SHARON BEHN. ACCORDING TO ACID
SURVIVORS TRUST INTERNATIONAL, SOME 15-HUNDRED THESE ACID ATTACKS HAPPEN WORLDWIDE EVERY
YEAR, BUT MANY MORE ATTACKS GO UNREPORTED.
AND IT'S PRETTY MUCH JUST ABOUT THE MOST COWARDLY ACT ANYONE CAN DO ON ANOTHER, THAT IS BASICIALLY
WHAT THAT IS.