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 SEXUAL 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.