Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I reach out to the Meer Foundation?
A: Thank you for expressing faith in our foundation. You can reach out to us by signing up and joining our database.
If you are in immediate need of assistance, we can be reached at our address and all other relevant details are available here
Q: As an acid attack survivor, what provisions has the government made for me and how can I avail them?
A: The entire Meer Foundation website has been constructed to address this exact problem. Once you sign up to the website, there are links that give step-by-step instructions to help you as a survivor obtain these essential provisions. They include information on government forms to fill, laws, and contact information for lawyers and hospitals. As a backup, the website also hosts office numbers of local representatives for every district in India should you feel the need to reach out to them.
Q: Someone I know is a victim of an acid attack and I want to help them. How can I do that?
A: If this person requires legal, psychological or financial support please aid them to the best of your ability and redirect them to our website. We would like to help. An acid attack is a heavily traumatic experience. At a time like this, showing compassion, patience and constant reassurance to the survivor proves to be of great help. Subtle verbal encouragement and honest conversation go a long way in making the survivor feel comfortable and re-accepted in social settings.
Q: Someone I know has been threatened by an acid attack. What can he/she do?
A: Advise your friend to make a preemptive complaint at the nearest Police Station and request for protection if necessary.
Q: What kinds of surgeries can be performed to help an acid attack survivor?
A: There have been advancements in the fields of medicine that are a cause for great hope. Given acid’s potential to harm, doctors have taken their time to understand it, and are always working to find better ways to bring their patients closer to normalcy with every new discovery.
Skin grafting is a procedure where skin is taken from a healthy part of the person’s own body, and used to replace the damaged tissue in another part. Skin has amazing renewal properties, and to people that have been harmed with facial damage, grafting truly is a boon.
Plastic surgery is the other part of the medical aid for survivors. Taking place after the burns have healed, this kind of surgery is of two types – reconstruction and restoration. The reconstructive surgeries aid in rebuilding essential parts and repairing cosmetic damage done to the body. The restorative surgeries are aimed at fixing or replacing parts of the body that have had their functioning stopped or impaired by the acid. Both are important components to help the patient return to a healthy, content life.
Q: Why is mental health counselling so important to recovery?
A: Healing is not just a physical act. At Meer Foundation, we know that well. Working closely with acid survivors, we’ve come to understand that attacks like these deeply fracture their sense of self, whether they know it or not. This can even lead to them developing a mistrust in society as a whole.
Counselling helps them realise they are not alone. Introducing them to concepts and giving them an understanding of mental health and its care helps heal wounds of the mind. The support system provided by good counselling forms a foundation on which survivors can rebuild their sense of self.
Q: I am a citizen and want to volunteer to your organisation. How do I go about this?
A: Thank you for joining us on this journey. Your help is truly appreciated. Signing up and joining our database is the most effective way to become a volunteer. Once you provide us with the relevant details, we can send across an emailer about sensitivity guidelines and how we operate, which we hope will be of great use.
Q: Why are you so focussed on female acid attack survivors only?
A: While it is true that men do undergo acid attacks in our country, the numbers are heavily skewed against women. Approximately 80% of the attacks were focussed on women in 2016. The way most Indian society is currently structured, there exists heavy dependence on men to sustain the livelihoods of women. By helping them heal and providing them with employable skills, they need not be forced back into a relationship where their well-being is threatened.
Q: Why are these chemicals not banned yet?
A: The most common acids used for attacks are Hydrochloric, Sulphuric, and Nitric acid. These acids are used in several industries such automobile, polish production, and medicine. That makes them difficult to ban entirely.
In India, rust-cleaning compounds were often used in acid attacks, and were purchased over the counter at hardware stores. However, as per a Supreme Court directive, now they can only be sold to those that provide a photo ID, and register their name and address, which produces a paper trail.
As for other possible sources of acid purchase, a positive correlation has been found between increased regulation and the reduction in attacks. This proves that lobbying for harsher punishment for the sale of acid will ultimately act as a safeguard.
Q: What are the common motivations for acid attacks?
A: Acid attacks are an exceptionally twisted crime. In most cases, the attacker cannot handle the rejection coming from a woman with regards to offers of marriage and sex, or the denial of dowry. Alternatively, the attacker uses the acid as some form of misguided retribution in the case of religious reasons, business disputes, and gang wars.
Whenever an acid attack takes places, it is in no shape or form the survivor’s fault. Throwing acid is never the answer to any dispute, ever.