page_title: Acid attack
section_title: South America
hierarchical_section_title: Acid attack / By country / South America
caption_attribution_description: English: "First Lady Melania Trump presents the 2017 International Women of Courage Award to Natalia Ponce de Leon of Colombia during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2017." https://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/33593820901/in/album-72157681980941045/ "Natalia Ponce de Leon started the Natalia Ponce de Leon Foundation in April 2015 to defend, promote, and protect the human rights of acid attack victims. Her life changed in March 2014 when a stalker threw a liter of sulfuric acid on her face and body. As Natalia would say, she was "reborn from the ashes" of that attack to become a symbol of perseverance and a living testimony to the restorative power of forgiveness. In her role as an activist, she fought for and achieved the passage of a law that increased penalties for attackers using chemical agents and required the Ministry of Health to improve training in hospital burn units for acid attacks and other burn victims. The law, which bears her name, was passed on January 2016. She is now working closely with the National Institute of Legal Medicine to establish burn units throughout Colombia, ensuring burn victims receive the appropriate medical and psychological treatment. She continues to be an inspiration and an example of courage for all Colombians." [1]
context_page_description: An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill". Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones. Acid attacks can often lead to permanent blindness.
  The most common types of acid used in these attacks are sulfuric and nitric acid. Hydrochloric acid is sometimes used, but is much less damaging. Aqueous solutions of strongly alkaline materials, such as caustic soda, are used as well, particularly in areas where strong acids are controlled substances.
  The long term consequences of these attacks may include blindness, as well as eye burns, with severe permanent scarring of the face and body, along with far-reaching social, psychological, and economic difficulties.
  Today, acid attacks are reported in many parts of the world, though more commonly in developing countries.
context_section_description: Though comprehensive statistics on acid attacks in South America are sparse, a recent study investigating acid assault in Bogota, Colombia, provides some insight for this region. According to the article, the first identified survivor of acid violence in Bogota was attacked in 1998. Since then reported cases have been increasing with time. The study also cited the Colombian Forensics Institute, which reported that 56 women complained of aggression by acid in 2010, 46 in 2011, and 16 during the first trimester of 2012. The average age of survivors was about 23 years old, but ranged from 13 to 41 years.
  The study reported a male:female victim ratio of 1:30 for acid assault in Bogota, Colombia, although recent reports show the ratio is closer to 1:1. Reasons behind these attacks usually stemmed from poor interpersonal relationships and domestic intolerance toward women. Moreover, female victims usually came from low socioeconomic classes and had low education. The authors state that the prevalence of acid attacks in other areas of South America remains unknown due to significant underreporting.
  On March 27, 2014, a woman named Natalia Ponce de León was assaulted by Jonathan Vega, who threw a liter of sulphuric acid on her face and body. Vega, a former neighbor, was reported to have been "obsessed" with Ponce de León and had been making death threats against her after she turned down his proposal for a relationship. 24% of her body was severely burned as a result of the attack. Ponce de León has undergone 15 reconstruction surgeries on her face and body since the attack.
  Three years before the attack took place, Colombia reported one of the highest rates of acid attacks per capita in the world. However, there was not an effective law in place until Ponce de León's campaign took off in the months after her attack. The new law, which is named after her, defines acid attacks as a specific crime and increases maximum sentences to 50 years in jail for convicted offenders. The law also aims to provide victims with better state medical care including reconstructive surgery and psychological therapy. Ponce de León expressed hope that the new law would act as a deterrent against future attacks.
caption: Natalia Ponce de León (right), survivor of a 2014 acid attack, receiving an award for her activism for other survivors
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