Acid throwing

Acid throwing or vitriolage is a form of violent assault. Sometimes the crime is called acid attack. The attackers throw acid or other corrosive substances at their victims. Usually they throw it at the targets' faces. They want to damage skin tissue, even to expose and to dissolve the bones. The consequences of these attacks include blindness and permanent scars of the face and body.

In India, the number of acid attacks have been rising.India's acid victims demand justice, BBC News, 9 April 2008 There had been 68 acid attacks in Karnataka alone (of which Bengaluru is the capital) since 1999. These are only the cases that have been reported.Acid test for Indian society, The Guardian, July 29th 2008 Unlike India, Bangladesh has introduced the death penalty for throwing acid and laws strictly controlling the sales of acids since 2002. An important role for the introduction of that legislation had the Acid Survivors Foundation.

Acid throwing is a crime in most countries in the world.  Many Islamic countries have the concept of qisas, or retributive justice. With this, a victim can ask that the attacker be disfigured in a similar way. That way, an Iranian court ordered that the attacker of a woman who was blinded by such an attack, be blinded as well.

Epidemiology
According to researchers and activists, countries with many occurrences of acid attacks include Bangladesh, India,"Still smiling The women fighting back after acid attacks" BBC. Naomi Grimley. Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, United Kingdom, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Acid attacks have been reported however in countries around the world, including:

 Afghanistan
 Australia
 Bangladesh
 Belgium
 Bulgaria
 Cambodia
 China
 Hong Kong S.A.R.
 Colombia
 France
 Gabon
 Germany
 India
 Indonesia
 Iran
 Ireland
 Israel
 Italy
 Jamaica
 Kenya
 Laos
 Mexico
 Myanmar
 Nepal
 Nigeria
 Philippines
 Pakistan
 Russia
 Sri Lanka
 Sweden
 South Africa
 Taiwan
 Tanzania
 Thailand
 Uganda
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Vietnam

Additionally, evidence for acid attacks exists in other regions of the world such as South America, Central and North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. However, South Asian countries maintain the highest incidence of acid attacks.

Police in the United Kingdom have noted that many victims are scared to come forward to report attacks, meaning the nobody knows how many attacks have happened.

Related pages
 Domestic violence
 Monira Rahman

References

Further reading


 Other websites 
 Bangladesh: Acid Attacks in Bangladesh: A Voice for the Victims
 Cambodia: Living in the Shadows: Acid Attacks in Cambodia Report
 China: Hospital offers surgery to victim of acid attack
 South Asia: Acid attacks on the rise in South Asia
 Pakistan: A 16 year old boy was badly injured in an acid attack after he refused a Muslim cleric's sexual advances
 Thailand: 6 teens hurt in acid attack
 Iran: Woman blinded by acid wants same fate for attacker

Category:Domestic violence
Category:Human rights abuses
Category:Hate crimes