Ritu, a 19 year old Acid Attack fighter, is fighting to change lives of 300 Acid Attack survivors across the nation. Ritu was herself attacked with Acid almost two years back. Since then she has taken it upon herself to make a change in the society.
Backed by the Stop Acid Attacks campaign, Ritu has started a campaign on IndieGogo to raise money for to start first of its kind research project to assess the situation of Acid Attack survivors in India. The campaign aims to raise money in order to reach out to 300 Acid Attack survivors and create a network of these survivors. This network will be assessed in long term with medical and legal help.
The IndieGogo campaign shares the absence of Government data relating to one of the most heinous crimes of our times. The campaign writes, “There is no government statistics relating to Acid Attack victims in India. As according to 2013 NCRB report, in Kerala number of cases reported were 4. But we have received 9 FIR copies from the state through RTI. Stop Acid Attacks campaign has maintained a database of Acid Attack victims being reported on various media platforms as well. These amount to at least 300 acid attack victims in India. As per the Government rule, anybody who has been attacked by acid must be given a compensation of Rs 3 Lakhs (US Dollar 5000 Approx.). But as per various media reports and our findings only 5 Acid Attack survivors have received the compensation!”
Acid Attacks have emerged as new weapon against women in not only India, but South Asian countries. Sadly there has been very little done at the administration level to monitor the sale of Acids in retail shops. The government has not been able to tackle the rising cases of acid attacks. The campaign to reach out to at least 300 acid attack survivors and creating a network thus comes as a huge contribution in the larger struggle to end Acid Attacks.
“Presently we aim at raising $ 5000. We have been able to raise almost 90% of the target. But if we overfund the campaign, then we will be able to reach out to more Acid Attack survivors and also will be in a better position to execute the research project.” shares Alok Dixit, founder of the Stop Acid Attacks campaign.
The IndieGogo campaign can be visited by clicking here:
This article was first published on LokMarg on March 25, 2015
Permalink: http://lokmarg.com/ritu-is-fighting-to-change-300-lives-destroyed-by-acid/
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