Acid Attack Victims, Cast Out by Society, Are Helping Each Other Thrive

''Around the world, 1,500 people report acid attacks each year. Many more go unreported. The vast majority of victims are women and they are targeted primarily for acting in defiance of a man's wishes — by pursuing an education, entering a career, rejecting a suitor or any number of other actions that should be regarded as a basic human right.

Acid attacks are vicious and excruciating. They scar for life, both physically and mentally, and often lead to the victim's social exclusion. Assailants, meanwhile, regularly go unpunished.

India is home to many of the world's acid attacks and there is a growing movement to both put an end to these heinous crimes and to help the victims rehabilitate and return to life...''

by Joe McCarthy