Acid Survivors Trust International

ASTI's impact abroad has been primarily centred on providing aid and support to attack survivors whilst challenging common misconceptions around victim-hood. An example of how these have been achieved can be found in a two year programme launched by ASTI in collaboration with local partners Burns Violence Survivors Nepal and Acid Survivors Foundation Pakistan in the delivery of a British Government Department for International Development funded project. The project led to:

• 152 survivors benefiting from medical and psycho-social support services
• Awareness and sensitization on the causes and consequences of acid violence, acid crime legislation, police procedures and immediate response to acid attack to 513 community leaders
• 151 survivors benefit from legal support
• 54 survivors access professional skills training and financial support
• 6,360 community members reached through campaign materials or street theatre
• In Pakistan two successful radio campaigns reaching 4,400,000 people across the target regions spreading awareness on acid violence and on how to respond to an acid attack.

In another two-year project, ASTI was supported by the United Nations Trust Fund (UNTF) to work with local partners in Cambodia, Nepal and Uganda in supporting survivors. The project contributed to:

• An acid law and sub-decree being passed in Cambodia.
• The Uganda National Bureau of Standards producing guidelines to regulate use of acid.
• In Cambodia health and legal notification and referral systems strengthened in 18 provinces and increasing number of lawyers and legal aid professionals willing to support survivors in taking cases forward.
• In Cambodia 300 women in 2 provinces receive information on legal and medical support.

Alongside the aforementioned local partners, ASTI has played a central role in holding governments to account in the fight to tackle the root causes of acid violence and ultimately prevent more cases from occurring as well as ensuring proper justice is served for survivors. The following are examples of ASTI's work in changing laws:

• Acid Survivors Foundation Bangladesh, which played a key role in policy change in Bangladesh. Bangladesh was the first country to pass a law banning acid violence, in 2002.[4]
• The organisation's local partner Acid Survivors Foundation Pakistan campaigned hard and played a critical part in helping to bring about The Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill in 2011 which has contributed to the decline in attacks. Once known to be the country with the highest number of such attacks (496 recorded attacks in 2002) and the highest incident rates for women, it has since experienced a drastic drop (approx. 70 attacks recorded in 2012) in the frequency of acid assaults.
• ASTI supported the work of Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity in bringing about legal reform. Cambodia has also adopted a law against acid violence to criminalize and penalize perpetrators. A year after it was passed in 2012, the country also passed regulations governing the sale and use of concentrated acid. The number of recorded acid attacks has been significantly.
• With over 100 victims of attack annually, Colombia has strengthened its legislative framework and enacted a law in January 2016 to impose sentences of 12 to 50 years in jail to perpetrators of acid attacks. The law was named after acid attack survivor Natalia Ponce de Leon who was attacked in 2014[5] and has since campaigned for stricter laws on acid violence.
• The Colombian government also sought information from ASTI on tackling acid violence. At the invitation of the Colombian government ASTI executive director visited Colombia on two occasions (2014 and 2015) to provide expert advice.
• Following the sharp increase in acid violence in the UK, the organisation was approached British Home Office officials, the Shadow Home Secretary and cross-party MPs seeking advice on tackling the surge in acid attacks. Consequently, they provided policy briefings as well as a detailed legal memorandum on loopholes in current laws. Consequently, Amber Rudd announced that the Home Office is to ban the sale of most corrosive substances to under-18s[6] as well as establish a six-month minimum sentence for anyone caught for the second time carrying acid without good reason.[7]