Abuse is rampant all over the world, in different cultures, in different forms, in different ways. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, marital abuse – it’s quite difficult to pick one and say that this is more traumatising. All kinds are truly horrendous including acid attacks on women, which is gaining notoriety in India.

Acid attacks on women points solely to gender-based violence. The survivors are shaken to their core and the physical deformity is only a small portion of their trauma.

‘Make Love Not Scars’ is an NGO started by Ria Sharma, a social activist, mainly focusing on the rehabilitation of acid attack survivors.

At the age of 21, she came back to India from UK, to complete a documentary on acid attack survivors. She was in her third year of graduation at Leeds College of Arts, UK.

Her organisation is the first one of its kind in the world and seeks to raise awareness against acid attacks and promotes campaigns and fundraisers to rehabilitate and support the acid attack survivors. The survivors are getting a platform through MLNS to get hired by employers by showcasing their skills.

MLNS has helped the survivors in getting legal aid and compensation and the Supreme Court has decreed that they will get free medical treatment too. All thanks to Ria’s efforts.

Ria Sharma’s relentless efforts were acknowledged when she was the first Indian to receive the United Nations Goalkeepers Global Award in 2017.

Blog By Chithra Prabhakaran