Dr Fauzia Saeed from The national Commission on The Status of Women

Sana recalling Naila's fight for justice and the historical decision of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Fahmida Iqbal from UNIFEM recalling the CEDAW guidelines before critically reviewing the outline of the new bill.

lawyers at work!

Survivors also present to say what they want!

Justice Nasira Iqbal expressing her views and demanding a law against acid violence.

Today, UNIFEM is supporting all the legal consultation in Pakistan to redraft the ACCPB; with such collaboration, eradicating acid violence CAN become  a dream come true…

VKY.

ASF Chairperson.

Acid Survivors Foundation interns ready to take minutes and compile MOVs!

Consultation is about sharing and speech distribution.

This consultation meant to give a  legal technical path to redraft the ACCPB…

25 participants attended the consulatation and suggested various ways forward: specific law on acid, implementation and monitoring mechanism.

The new ACCPB will be the result of this first consultation and will be reviewed by a group of NGOs, stakeholders and legal experts as Acid Survivors Foundation is committed to promote democratic and peaceful processes. We will certainly keep you updated and share the agenda of our second meeting: do not miss here!

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Page last updated at 08:38 GMT, Friday, 30 April 2010 09:38 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Acid attack on Pakistani sisters in Balochistan Campaigners there are up to 150 acid attacks every year Three sisters have suffered serious facial burns after two unidentified men on a motorbike threw acid at them in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The sisters, aged between 14 and 20 years old, were attacked as they walked from Kalat city to Pandarani village – one is still in a serious condition. Political activists held a protest in Kalat shortly after the attack. There are no reliable statistics, but campaigners say there may be 150 acid attack victims in Pakistan each year. The police named the girls as Fatima Bibi, 20, Saima Bibi, 16 and Sakina Bibi, 14. They were taken to a government hospital in Kalat, but Fatima Bibi was later shifted to a hospital in the provincial capital, Quetta. No arrests have been made as yet. Two weeks ago, an unknown group – the Baloch Ghairatmand Group (the Honourable Baloch Group) – claimed responsibility for a similar attack on two women in a market in Dalbandin city. The group had warned women to wear the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, and not to visit markets unaccompanied by men from their families. The attack was criticised by Balochistan’s political leaders as well as armed rebel groups, who said it had been carried out by elements that wanted to push the Baloch people back in time.

Dear all,

This is on! Acid Survivors Foundation has resumed its fund raising and awareness programme : with the cooperation of Adnan’s  Jehangir, we are conveying a message of peace and gender justice  through a universal language : arts.

Beyond borders and culture, art  is the link that will unite all humanists and change agents determined to bring sustainable development…

Join us for this unqiue moment !

Jean Loncle A French journalist, Valerie Khan Yusufzai and Rajprit ASTI communication officer in front of Nishtar hospital in Multan.

The same team talking to an acid retailer in Multan, Punjab.

ASF team doscussing the issue of acid violence in a village, in a family in which 31 family members were attacked with acid.

ASF team and one of ASF pro bono lawyer : Mr Rasheed Rehman.

Acid Survivors Foundation is proud of the Pakistani parliamentarians who have hereby recognised the need to address and act upon acid violence in Pakistan. However, the most difficult now lays ahead : some elements of the proposed bill do clearly need to be reviewed in order to ensure that a maximum parliamentarians will support this bill or rather these amendments, including the most orthodox ones, and this, within the spirit of promoting/protecting human rights : some parliamentarians or senators may very well demand that Qisas, “an eye for an eye” law should be applied as a punishment for the perpetrator as they are shocked by the cruelty of acid attack and as they are determined to stop it…

As much as we understand these senators and parliamentarians’ reactions, as much as we are thankful to them for their commitment to protect acid survivors and eradicate acid violence in Pakistan, as human rights activists, we cannot support such a punishment and will therefore come up with a different strategy that will still satisfy our common goal : eradicate one of the wost forms of torture, domestic violence and human rights breach and ensure that acid survivors in Pakistan become proactive and autonomous citizens ready to develop a democratic society in a peaceful manner…

Wish us luck for the coming consultations!

Acid attack victims pin hope on new laws

Published: January 05, 2010

The uneducated woman from cotton belt in rural Punjab province may want brutal justice, but activists are pressing for a change in the law to help prevent such attacks.
Thanks to a struggle in the highest court in the land by another acid attack victim – Naila Farhat – campaigners are hopeful that this devastating form of violence can be curtailed.
Ours is a conservative country, where women – especially in poor, rural areas – can be treated like commodities with little protection from the police and under pressure not to disgrace their families.
“Their families will say ‘it’s the wrong thing to go to the courts, what will society think about you?’,” said Sana Masood, the legal coordinator with Pakistan’s Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF).
The nation remains without a domestic violence law. It has been drafted, but lawmakers say it is still under debate as a senator from a hardline party raised objections and sent the bill back to parliament.
Acid attacks are rising, with ASF recording 48 cases in 2009 and Sana says countless more probably go unreported because of social stigma.
That is up from about 30 cases in 2007, a rise Sana says could be blamed on increased stress in people’s lives as inflation soars.
Farhat was just 13 years old when a man threw acid in her face in 2003 because her parents refused to let him marry their child.
The attacker was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay Rs1.2 million in damages, but on appeal a high court reduced the damages and said the man could go free once the money was paid.
Enraged, Farhat and ASF went to the Supreme Court – the first acid attack case to be taken to the highest court – where judges overturned the high court ruling within minutes.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry took a personal interest in the case, and recommended that the government pass new legislation to control the sale of acid and increase punishment for acid attacks.
Sana says industrial-strength acid used in cotton processing can be bought by anyone for just a few rupees.
“Because of its easy accessibility to the general public, for very stupid domestic issues they will just throw acid on each other,” she said. “It does not only destroy a person’s face but it destroys a person’s life.”
Also key would be the introduction of a law requiring the attacker to pay for their victim’s painful and expensive treatment and counselling.
ASF has been pushing for such laws for years, but now hopes a bill will be tabled in parliament this month.
“They should, with relevant amendments, pass it unanimously and we don’t expect the government to unnecessarily delay the process or create any blocks,” said parliamentarian Marvi Memon, acknowledging the process could take months.
Without Farhat, these steps may never have been made, and she remains dedicated to helping other victims, coaching Bibi through her treatments and helping her come to terms with her future.
“I encourage other acid attack victims and tell them that they should continue fighting for their rights and should not hesitate to come out of their homes, they should come forward,” Farhat told AFP.

The panel for discussing gender Justice Programme from UNDP and eradication of violence against women.

Screening of Documentary and Panel Discussion on VAW

December 2009: An event titled ‘16 Days and Beyond….’ to commemorate the end of the 16 Days of Activism on Eliminating Violence against Women, was organized by the project on 9 December 2009 in Islamabad. The event featured screening of a documentary “Bushra Survives” by the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), one of the implementing partners of GJP, followed by a panel discussion on VAW.

Mr. Toshihiro Tanaka, Country Director UNDP and Mr. Mr. George Turkington, Head of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) were the chief guests for the occasion. The eminent panelist for the event included: (i) Ms. Saba Gul Khattak, Member Social Sectors, Planning Commission; (ii) Ms. Marvi Memon, Member National Assembly; (iii) Dr. Farzana Bari, Head of Gender Studies, QAU University; (iv) Dr. Rakshinda Parveen, social activist; (v) Ms. Samar Minallah, human rights activist and documentary film maker; (vi) Ms. Valerie Khan Yusufazi, Chair of Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF); and (vii) Mr. Salman Asif, Gender Advisor, UNDP. A large number of stakeholders also participated.