Acid attack victim’s beauty tutorial has a powerful message
updated the 8 September 2015 à 18:42Acid attacks are rampant in many parts of the world. It is inhumane and severely traumatic and more organizations are rising up to bring this issue to the public’s attention and seek to end this violent practice.
Acid attacks.
Why are they still happening? It’s 2015. They don’t only happen to girls in India, Bangalore and Pakistan. It’s happening in the United Kingdom, in America and it needs to stop. In every almost instance of acid attacks, the victims are also suffering from domestic violence, or the attacks are carried out by people they know.
In a recent attack, the victim was then 17 year old beauty vlogger, Reshma Quereshi. She had been attacked by her sister’s estranged husband and two henchmen, who pinned her down and had acid poured on her face. Now, after battling with the scars, she took to YouTube for a beauty tutorial video, showing people how to perfectly apply red lipstick. The clip is not all pretty though as it moved into highlighting the dangers of over-the-counter acid sales, and urging people to take action against it.
Acid attacks happen to everyone
This happens to many girls and young women in countries like Iran, India, Bangalore and Pakistan. Most of them get acid thrown at them, mainly on their face in order to disfigure them. These acts of violence are committed over some of the most trivial and irrelevant things, things that can be resolved easily with mature discussion.
Girls have been splashed with acid because their family’s didn’t offer a big enough dowry. Some girls have been attacked just because they rejected a man’s advances. Acid attacks are barbaric, scarring in numerous ways, and have to stop.
Petitions have been drawn to stop over-the-counter sales of acid, and they have gathered a lot of support, with many organizations and charities dedicated to rehabilitating acid attack survivors, helping them foot the bill of the many surgeries they have to undergo to even have skin on their faces again. The problem is slowly being taken more seriously, thanks to the growing voice of the new generation, who are learning to speak up and fight for their rights. The new wave of social and civil rights activism is building up momentum, and it is coming, and governments will be forced to take action sooner or later.
Whilst these are very extreme cases of disfiguration as a result of domestic abuse, there are others that are more common, like physical beatings, and emotional abuse. In ‘safer’ place like Singapore, acid attacks are highly uncommon, but domestic abuse still occurs, regardless of the gender of the attacker or victim.
Being a victim of abuse is nothing to be ashamed of, and if you are a victim, please reach out for help.
Bernice Ng
