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Sent:                               Monday, January 26, 2009 11:47 AM

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Subject:                          Bangladesh - Acid Violence - Statistics +

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http://www.wunrn.com

 

http://www.acidsurvivors.org/about.html

 

BANGLADESH - ACID VIOLENCE - ACID SURVIVORS FOUNDATION

 

Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) has been working on acid violence issues since 1999. The ultimate goal of the organization is to eliminate acid violence from Bangladesh. However, at present there is an acid attack every two days. Victims of acid violence need physical reconstruction, support for reintegration into mainstream society and legal assistance. Therefore, ASF ensures the best possible medical, legal and social reintegration support to the acid survivors.

 

http://www.acidsurvivors.org/index.html

 

WHAT IS ACID VIOLENCE?

 


Acid violence is a particularly vicious and damaging form of violence in Bangladesh where acid is thrown in people’s faces. The overwhelming majority of the victims are women, and many of them are below 18 years of age. The victims are attacked for many reasons. In some cases it is because a young girl or women has spurned the sexual advances of a male or either she or her parents have rejected a proposal of marriage. Recently, however, there have been acid attacks on children, older women and also men. These attacks are often the result of family and land dispute, dowry demands or a desire for revenge.

 

 

 

CONSEQUENCES OF ACID VIOLENCE

 

Nitric or sulphuric acid has a catastrophic effect on human flesh. It causes the skin tissue to melt, often exposing the bones below the flesh, sometimes even dissolving the bone. When acid attacks the eyes, it damages them permanently. Many acid attacks survivors have lost the use of one or both eyes.

But the scars left by acid are not just skin deep. In addition to the inevitable psychological trauma, some survivors also face social isolation and ostracism that further damage their self-esteem and seriously undermine their professional and personal futures. Women who have survived acid attacks have great difficulty in finding work and, if unmarried (as many victims tend to be), have very little chance of ever getting married. In a country like Bangladesh this has serious social and economic consequences.

 

 

STATISTICS - ACID VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH

 

 

Acid Attack Statistics (Jan-July '08)

Month

Number of incidents

Number of survivors

January

12

15

February

07

10

March

11

14

April

12

16

May

10

12

June

16

19

July

13

19

August

16

23

September

15

20

Total

112

148

 

Acid Attack Statistics (May ’99 – Dec ‘07)

Period

Number of incidents

Number of survivors

1999 (May - Dec)

115

138

2000

174

234

2001

252

349

2002

367

490

2003

335

411

2004

266

325

2005

217

272

2006

180

221

2007

155

192

Total:

2061

2632

 

Acid attack statistics - gender perspective

 

 

 

Motivation of acid attack - 2007

Reasons

Man

Woman

Children

Dowry

-

8

2

Family rlated dispute

3

6

-

Land/property/money dispute

30

53

15

Marital dispute

3

18

3

Refusal/rejection of love/marriage/sex

2

7

7

Not know

5

4

1

Others

3

14

9

Total:

46

110

37

 

Age group of acid survivors - 2007

Age group

Men

Women

Under 18

14

23

19-24

2

23

25-34

14

39

35-44

13

34

45-54

13

09

Over 55

04

05

Not known

-

-

Total:

60

133

Grand Total:

193

 

 

Note:

 

 

 

*

The statistics mentioned here are recorded by ASF through both primary and secondary data source i.e., daily news medias, local NGOs, Journalists, Individuals and the survivors who comes directly to ASF.

 

*

Please mention the source: Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF)

 

*

Some statistical information may vary from earlier publication of ASF because information is received long after the occurrence.

 





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