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BANGLADESH PRAISED FOR REDUCING
WOMEN ACID ATTACKS - REPORT
Bangladesh is singled out for taking stronger measures to stop acid attacks on women in a report released Thursday. The attacks to disfigure and isolate victims are called acts of gender terrorism.
(WOMENSENEWS)--Bangladesh was singled out from two neighboring countries for its strong measures to stop acid attacks on women in a January 27 report.
In a study of the crime in Bangladesh, Cambodia and India, researchers found that Bangladesh had taken the most proactive approach to decreasing the attacks by enacting legislation, a no-bail policy for perpetrators and forming a national council to regulate corrosive solutions and enact a policy of treatment and rehabilitation for victims.
Whether the attacks follow a perceived wrongdoing or are simply the response
of a spurned suitor, thousands of women in the South Asian region around
Bangladesh have had sulphuric acid sprayed or poured onto their faces,
eliminating facial features, causing blindness and fusing skin together,
forcing them into a life of health problems and social isolation.
"This is a form of gender terrorism, I believe," Cornell International Human Rights Clinic Director Sital Kalantry said Thursday at New York City's Cornell Club in an event discussing the findings in advance of its official publication.
The study is based on two years of on-the-ground research and fact-finding conducted by four New York-based groups: Kalantry's Human Rights Clinic; Cornell Law School's Avon Global Center for Women and Justice; the New York City Bar Association; and the Virtue Foundation, which acts in a consultative capacity to the United Nations on global health care, education and empowerment initiatives. It was funded by a grant from the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice.
Difficulties in Enforcement
Bangladesh's women have yet to feel the full benefit of the new laws and policies. The density of the population in Bangladesh combined with a relative scarcity of police officers hinders investigations and prosecutions.
In Bangladesh, in the years between 2000 and 2009, there were 2,198 reported attacks but only 439 convictions, according to the study. However, the attacks in Bangladesh have waned, falling steadily from 367 in 2002 to 116 in 2009.
Producers of the report, entitled "Combating Acid Violence in Bangladesh, India and Cambodia," call it the first comprehensive study of the use of acids to maim, disfigure and punish women.
A search of Indian newspapers by the researchers found 153 reported cases in India between January 2002 and October 2010 and the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity has counted 271 acid violence victims treated in hospitals in Cambodia between 1985 and 2010.
These figures from the report may not tell the whole story, as records of such assaults in these nations are not always kept and the crimes themselves are sometimes not reported, Kalantry said.
Looking Forward
In the next year the producers of the report plan to offer technical assistance based on data from the report and advice on what to do moving forward to governmental representatives of Cambodia, Bangladesh and India, should they ask for it, to help confront and change the culture of acid attacks, Kalantry said.
Kalantry is currently planning a forum to be held in New Delhi, India, in October where various women's health and rights nongovernmental organizations and possibly government representatives from the three nations studied--where acid attacks are relatively prevalent--can compare strategies and successes.
Victims often become social pariahs as some communities see them as bad omens. "Unlike rape, which can be hidden, this is on a woman's face," Kalantry said.
Corporations who produce or use acids in their products will also be recruited to help end the violence. Avon Executive Director Sara Lulo said at the Thursday event that the acids are readily available in Bangladesh, India and Cambodia and are used as cleaning products, in dyes for clothing and in batteries.
Better labeling of receptacles in which acids are sold could make a difference, Lulo said, which gives producers of the chemicals a way to join the fight against acid attacks.
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COUNTRIES, BUSINESSES
MUST COMBAT ACID ATTACKS ON WOMEN
By Lauren Gold
January
27, 2011
The photographs are horrific; the experience is unthinkable. But disfiguring and deadly acid attacks on women are on the rise in some parts of the world, according to a new comprehensive report released today (Jan. 27). And while international human rights law requires countries to take action against them, much more needs to be done.
Sital Kalantry, Cornell Law School associate clinical professor of law, faculty director of the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and lead author of the report, "Combating Acid Violence in Bangladesh, India and Cambodia," discussed the findings at a media breakfast Jan. 27 at the Cornell Club in New York.
The report, a collaborative effort by the Avon Center, the New York City Bar Association, the Cornell International Human Rights Clinic and the Virtue Foundation, is the first to demonstrate that acid violence is a form of gender-based violence prohibited by the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Parties to CEDAW, including Bangladesh, India and Cambodia, are obligated under international law to make efforts to prevent attacks, bring perpetrators to justice and compensate victims.
The study examines the causes and effects of acid violence, compares legislation and statistics in the three countries, and makes recommendations for governments, NGOs and businesses toward curbing the attacks. Among its key findings, the report documents a strong connection between acid availability and violence, and calls on governments to adopt effective regulations on acid production, distribution, use and sale.
It also highlights the role of businesses, many of which use acid in manufacturing. "Evidence suggests that acid attacks occur at higher rates near areas where industries that use acid are located, such as cotton industries in Pakistan and rubber industries in Cambodia," Kalantry said. Companies that produce and distribute acid should ensure appropriate licensing, safe handling, storage, labeling, transfer and disposal procedures, the report states.
Collecting data from newspapers and NGOs, the authors found that at least 153 acid attacks occurred in India between 2002 and 2010; 3,000 occurred in Bangladesh between 1999 and 2010; and 271 occurred in Cambodia between 1985 and 2010. Many attacks are never reported, however, and countries themselves do not keep records; so the authors note that actual numbers are likely much higher.
Bangladesh is the only country that has enacted specific legislation and launched awareness campaigns around the issue. Attacks there are on the decline, according to the research, while they seem to be increasing in India and Cambodia.
Reasons behind acid attacks can vary, Kalantry said in a Jan. 26 interview. "But in India and Bangladesh, the major motive for attacks is tied to the notion that women are possessions -- once a man has decided that a woman is hers but she rejects his marriage or sex proposal, the man disfigures her to prevent her from being with anyone else."
For victims, finding adequate medical care is a major challenge. "Acid violence has devastating health consequences for victims, including immense physical pain, blindness and other loss of physical functioning, loss of facial features and severe mental suffering," said Dr. Ebby Elahi, director of global health and international programming at Virtue Foundation and associate clinical professor of ophthalmology at Mount Sinai.
The report recommends that governments require licensing and safe handling procedures by producers, distributors and other businesses that use acid; require labels cautioning users about the dangers of acid and about penalties for misuse; and ban household use of concentrated forms of acid.
Meanwhile, other entities have key roles to play as well, Kalantry said. "We hope to engage foreign and local businesses in a dialogue to identify ways they can contribute to ensuring that the products they produce, distribute and use in their manufacturing processes are not used as weapons," she said.
The media event was hosted by the Cornell Law School.