WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK - WUNRN ACID BURNING ATTACKS – VICTIMIZATION, SURVIVORS, SUPPORT United Nations Human Rights

1. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK - WUNRN ACID BURNING ATTACKS – VICTIMIZATION, SURVIVORS, SUPPORT United Nations Human Rights Council September 16, 2010 Geneva, Switzerland

3. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ACID ATTACKS ON WOMEN & GIRLS - A LIVING DEATH OF PAIN & SUFFERING Acid violence drastically changes the life of the victim including education, employment and other aspects of normal life. Survivors often have to face social isolation that further damages their self-esteem and confidence and undermines their professional and personal future.

4. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ACID ATTACKS - HORRIFIC VIOLENCE - LIFELONG SUFFERING - BANGLADESH + Acid-burning is one of the most alarming and horrific forms of violence especially targeted at women. It has a devastating effect on the victims. It inflicts lifelong suffering on them. Even a small amount of acid, sulphuric or nitric, melts the skin tissues, often with the bones underneath exposed or dissolved. Other effects include: permanent disfigurement, scars on the face and body, and narrowing of the persons nostrils, eyelids and ears. In most cases, vital organs of the survivors, especially the eyes, are permanently damaged.

5. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com AFGHANISTAN - SELF-IMMOLATION & VICTIMIZATION - WOMEN & GIRLS Raheila, 20, burnt herself in Herat

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7. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CEDAW - GENERAL RECOMMENDATION NO. 19 - VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Articles 2(f), 5 and 10(c) 11. Traditional attitudes by which women are regarded as subordinate to men or as having stereotyped roles perpetuate widespread practices involving violence or coercion, such as family violence and abuse, forced marriage, dowry deaths, acid attacks and female circumcision. Such prejudices and practices may justify gender-based violence as a form of protection or control of women. The effect of such violence on the physical and mental integrity of women is to deprive them the equal enjoyment, exercise and knowledge of human rights and fundamental freedoms. While this comment addresses mainly actual or threatened violence the underlying consequences of these forms of gender-based violence help to maintain women in subordinate roles and contribute to the low level of political participation and to their lower level of education, skills and work opportunities.

8. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com Distr.GENERAL A/RES/48/10423 February 1994 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993 The General Assembly, Recognizing the urgent need for the universal application to women of the rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human beings, Noting that those rights and principles are enshrined in international instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1/ the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2/ the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2/ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 3/ and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 4/ Recognizing that effective implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women would contribute to the elimination of violence against women and that the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, set forth in the present resolution, will strengthen and complement that process,

9. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com AFGHANISTAN - ACID ATTACKS KEEP GIRLS AWAY FROM SCHOOL CLASSES The Associated Press - November 14, 2008 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- No students showed up at Mirwais Mena girls' school in the Taliban's spiritual birthplace the morning after it happened. A day earlier, men on motorcycles attacked 15 girls and teachers with acid. The men squirted the acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school Wednesday, principal Mehmood Qaderi said. Some of the girls have burns only on their school uniforms but others will have scars on their faces. One teenager still cannot open her eyes after being hit in the face with acid. ''Today the school is open, but there are no girls,'' Qaderi said Thursday. ''Yesterday, all of the classes were full.'' His school has 1,500 students. Afghanistan's government condemned the attack as ''un-Islamic'' and blamed it on the ''country's enemies,'' a typical reference to Taliban militants. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, denied the insurgents were involved.

10. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com AFGHANISTAN - SCHOOLGIRL VICTIM OF ACID ATTACK Shamsia, an Afghan school girl, recovers in a hospital after two men on a motorbike threw acid on her in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Nov 12, 2008. Two men on a motorbike threw acid on six Afghan girls walking to school in Kandahar on Wednesday, hospitalizing two of the girls with serious burns, said Dr. Sharifa Siddiqi.

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12. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com UN Study on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Status of Women from the Viewpoint of Religion and Traditions D. Violations of the Right to Life      3. Honour Killings          157. Crimes of honour are also part of the mandate of the Special                  Rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions. According                  to the Special Rapporteur, honour crimes, rightly classed as                  extrajudicial executions, take many forms. It seems that, in some                  instances, women are driven to commit suicide following public                  denunciations and threats to their lives owing to their allegedly                  immoral behavious. OTHERS ARE DISFIGURED BY ACID. In                  most cases, the victims are apparently killed by, or at the behest                  of, their own families and the perpetrators are rarely arrested or                  receive only token punishments.

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14. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com Acid attack on Woman Shocks Ethiopia Kamilat Mehdi, 21, had a bright future ahead of her. She dreamt about doing a degree and becoming an air hostess. All that changed one night when she was walking home from work with her two sisters and a stalker threw sulphuric acid in her face. She is now lying in hospital disfigured beyond recognition. Her skin is red raw, her eyelids have almost been entirely destroyed and her hairline has been burnt back. "I feel very sick now. Every day they need to do something without anaesthetic so it is hard to accept and it is very painful," says Kamilat. Her sisters, Zeyneba and Zubyeda, escaped with lesser injuries but their faces were also burnt by the acid.

15. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com CAMBODIA: STRICT PENALTIES PLANNED FOR ACID ATTACKS PHNOM PENH, 28 April 2010 (IRIN) -  Keo Srey Vy’s brother-in-law had been planning to sell his child so he could buy a new motorbike. When she threatened to tell the police, he went to the restaurant where she worked as a cook and doused her face with acid. She reported the attack to police, but gave up after they demanded a bribe to investigate. “I didn’t consider revenge, but I wanted a law that would catch him and bring him to justice, and that law did not exist,” Keo Srey Vy, who is severely scarred, told IRIN. A year after the attack, she may have reason for hope.While countries such as Bangladesh and India have enacted severe laws and banned the open sale of chemicals, Cambodia had not taken any serious steps to curb the crime.Under a new draft law on the use and management of acid, perpetrators of acid attacks would receive life sentences, the government said. Attacks resulting in minor injuries would come with a minimum five-year sentence.

16. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com Pakistan - Acid Attacks Against Women & Girls On January 26, 2010, a bill regarding Acid Violence, which would specifically target those crimes by stating higher punishments for the attackers and by regulating the sale and purchase of acid, has been submitted to the National Assembly of Pakistan. But this only marks the beginning of a long legislative process, and it will require some time before the law is successfully adopted and effectively enforced. It will also require a strong political will which, until now, have proven inadequate, if not, inexistent. Indeed, in most of those cases, the judicial institutions have not taken stern sanctions against the perpetrators, which have often been able to act and walk away in total impunity. Nor has adequate compensation and support been granted to the victims. Irum Saeed, 30, poses for a photograph at her office at the Urdu University of Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Irum was burned on her face, back and shoulders twelve years ago when a boy whom she rejected for marriage threw acid on her in the middle of the street. She has undergone plastic surgery 25 times to try to recover from her scars. Shameem Akhter, 18, poses for a photograph at her home in Jhang, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 10, 2008. Shameem was raped by three boys who then threw acid on her three years ago. Shameem has undergone plastic surgery 10 times to try to recover from her scars. Shehnaz Usman, 36, poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Shehnaz was burned with acid by a relative due to a familial dispute five years ago. Shehnaz has undergone plastic surgery 10 times to try to recover from her scars.

17. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com PAKISTAN - ACID ATTACKS Najaf Sultana, 16, poses for a photograph at her home in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. Shahnaz Bibi, 35, poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Kanwal Kayum, 26, adjusts her veil as she poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Munira Asef, 23, poses for a photograph in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Memuna Khan, 21, poses for a photograph in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Dec. 19, 2008. Zainab Bibi, 17, adjusts her veil as she poses for a photograph in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008 Naila Farhat, 19, poses for a photograph in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008. Saira Liaqat, 26, poses for the camera at her home in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 9, 2008.

18. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ITALY - MOROCCAN YOUNG WOMAN ASSAULTED WITH ACID Turin, 27 August(AKI) - A 19-year-old Moroccan woman suffered second and third degree burns over 20 percent over her body following an late Thursday in the northern industrial city of Turin when attackers threw acid over her.According to a police official, at around 9:00 pm Hasna Beniliha was approached from behind by a man who poured the contents of a bottle on her before escaping on foot. Another three people who were standing near the victim were treated for burns from drops of the acid and released early from hospital.The police official said investigators are working on the hypothesis of that the attack was a crime of passion.Moroccans are among Italy's largest immigrant communities.

19. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com INDIA - ACID ATTACKS ON WOMEN PROMPT PROTESTS Haseena Hussain was attacked by her former boss when she did not accept his marriage proposal. Women from CSAAAW, including this acid-attack survivor named Jayalakshmi, gathered on the steps of city hall in Bangalore, India, Aug. 12, to call for better prevention and prosecution of acid violence. Day to Day, August 22, 2007 · Haseena Hussain was an attractive, upwardly mobile woman in Bangalore, India, with everything going for her. But it all changed in 1999, when she turned down her former boss' marriage proposal and he sought revenge by pouring two liters of concentrated hydrochloric acid over her body. Hussain now works with the Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW) to fight the surge of acid violence against women. Since 1999, the group has documented 61 such attacks. In the most recent case, a 22-year-old mother of four children was doused with acid and forced to drink a deadly concoction of a corrosive chemical and alcohol by her abusive husband in the city of Mysore.

20. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com UK - ACID ATTACK VICTIM - BEFORE & AFTER Photo of Katie Piper after Acid Attack is being searched on internet. This attack was done by her revengeful boyfriend Daniel Lynch on May 31, 2008. Former model and television presenter Katie Piper boldly steps out in public after acid attack. She recovers her life after having sulfuric acid thrown on her face. She told the horrific story of how she was raped in front of cameras. On 31st May, 2008, Katie Piper was attacked by her revengeful boyfriend Daniel Lynch with a cup of industrial sulphuric acid. On that day outside of cafe bar in north London, 24 year old Katie Piper was lost in her thoughts when she could barely notice a man approaching her with the realization of a cup of coffee in one of his hands. After that, the young boy threw the liquid on Katie face, first Katie thought that it was hot coffee, but the pain and agony she felt, suggested something else; it wasn’t coffee rather highly dangerous element known as Sulfuric Acid. This whole incident is captured by security cameras, when the stranger threw acid on her face, and the police know who did it.

21. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com AFGHANISTAN - SELF-IMMOLATION OF AFGHAN WOMEN & GIRLS RAWA - http://www.rawa.org/self_immolation/index.htm

22. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com USA WOMAN VICTIM OF ACID ATTACK RECOUNTS AGONIZING PAIN Associated Press - 2010-09-03 Bethany Storro had just bought a pair of sunglasses and was celebrating a new job when a woman walked up to her with a cup and said: "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?" The woman then splashed acid in the cup on Storro, who stumbled in pain and fell to the ground screaming. She felt agonizing pain as the skin on her face bubbled and sizzled and portions of her blouse disintegrated. "It was the most painful thing ever," Storro, 28, said Thursday. "My heart stopped. It ripped through my clothing the instant it touched my shirt; I could feel it burning through my second layer of skin." Police are seeking the woman in the Monday attack as Storro, with her head wrapped in white bandages, recounted Thursday how only days before, she had been celebrating a new job and a recent move to Vancouver, Washington, from Idaho. The reports were carried by The Oregonian newspaper and KGW-TV. But she insisted that she would not let the attack in Vancouver wreck her life, and laughingly marveled how her eyesight was spared just minutes after she bought those sunglasses. Storro said she had spinal meningitis twice as a child, which robbed her of most of her hearing. "Oh my gosh, to be hard of hearing and blind? That would drive them nuts," she said, laughing and pointing at her parents, Joe and Nancy Neuwelt. "They have to be in the same room for me to hear them. I'm just so glad it's a miracle."

23. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com Advocacy Against Acid Attacks: *Statistics *Restrictions on Acid *Prevention Programs *Efforts Against Inequality *Core Issues on Violence Against Women *Services & Support for Acid Victims *Media Coverage on Acid Attacks   Including Self-Immolation *Medical Care & Funds *International Law & Lobbying *Domestic Laws & Enforcement  *Enforcement of Prosecution -   Ending Impunity *Networking - Local, National,  Regional, International, UN

24. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ASEAN - ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS DECLARATION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Member Countries Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand VietNam Association of Southeast Asian Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the ASEAN Region In the context of strengthening regional cooperation, collaboration and coordination for the purpose of eliminating violence against women in the region, each Member Country, either individually or collectively, in ASEAN shall endeavour to fully implement the goals and commitments made related to eliminating violence against women and monitor their progressas follows: 1. To encourage greater regional and bilateral cooperation in the systematic research, collection, analysis and dissemination of data, including disaggregated by sex, age, and other relevant information, on the extent, nature and consequences of violence against women and girls, and on the impact and effectiveness of policies and programmes for combating violence against women;

25. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com VIET NAM ACID ATTACK SURVIVOR HELPS OTHER VICTIMS In 1989 in Ho Chi Minh City, Anne’s boyfriend, jealous and possessive, threw sulfuric acid on her face and body, leaving her severely disfigured and limited in movement. After five months in the hospital and more than 50 surgeries in the next decade, Anne is devoted to helping other acid burn victims and those in need of reconstructive surgery in developing countries.

26. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ACID SURVIVORS TRUST INTERNATIONAL - ASTI Acid Survivors Trust International -ASTI - is a registered UK charity and works with Acid Survivors Foundations (ASFs) in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Uganda, Pakistan and Nepal. ASTI is the only organization dedicated to addressing this grave abuse of human rights in an international context. Vision A world that believes in the equality of all people, and when the limited occurrences of burns violence do occur that the survivors are supported and rehabilitated to lead healthy and rewarding lives. Purpose/ Mission ASTI exists to provide a centre of worldwide expertise in identifying, treating and rehabilitating survivors of acid and burns violence – while helping to prevent, and ultimately eradicate, acid and burn violence worldwide. Founder - Dr. John Morrison, OBE - UK

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28. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com BANGLADESH: ACID ATTACKS CONTINUE DESPITE NEW LAWS DHAKA (IRIN) - Acid attacks against women and girls are continuing despite legal campaigns to halt their spread. Over 2,600 cases have been reported since 1999, according to the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) of Bangladesh. Almost all the attacks have been on women or girls. Many of the victims are under 18, says ASF, which has been working to eliminate acid violence for almost a decade. The main reason for the violence is dowries, refusal of love proposals, or land disputes, ASF said. Bent on revenge, perpetrators throw acid into their victims’ faces in an effort to severely disfigure them, often with horrifying results. Nitric or sulphuric acid has a catastrophic effect on human flesh, ASF said, resulting in skin tissue melting, often exposing the bones below the flesh, and even dissolving bone. Despite the viciousness of these attacks, many go unreported:

29. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com Acid Attack Victim Inspires Pakistani Legislation Nailia Farhat was attacked by a rejected suitor in 2003 Drafted Pakistani legislation has the potential to become the nation’s first law against domestic violence. The Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act spearheaded by acid attack victim Naila Farhat and human rights activists, would increase punishment for perpetrators who throw or spray acid on their victims and would prohibit the sale of acid to those without licenses.

30. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ACID SURVIVORS Acid Survivors Foundation of Bangladesh rally in Dhaka, including about 600 acid-attack victims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Uganda and Nepal

31. Women’s UN Report Network WUNRN® WUNRN http://www.wunrn.com ACID ATTACK VICTIM TESTIMONIAL - POEM I was a joyful little girl in Bangladesh, Playing, good in school, happy with family. When in my late teens, a man wanted me to wed. My family was interested; I was not. I continued to resist. He was angry. He said if he could not have me, no one would One night, when I was sleeping, he entered the window. I jumped up when I heard the noise. Then, the horror began... He sprayed acid in my face, and I screamed in terror. The pain was excruciating. It was a living death. My parents rushed me to the hospital. I stayed for many days, fighting for my life, my sight. When they gave me a mirror, I was horrified, in shock. The girl I used to be had become a disfigured monster. The pain and surgeries continued. My tears only increased the suffering. No one wanted to look at me. I hid. I felt my life was over, my spirit destroyed. My attacker goes free. I tried to testify. I gave up. Many others like him, use acid in revenge, anger. Then, a Foundation gave me hope. I met other victims. I was trained for work. I slowly moved forward. Though I am grotesque, so ugly and disfigured. I have an inner beauty that I hope can show. I am a survivor of an acid attack. A nightmare that changed my life forever. By LAH - WUNRN