Acid attack survivors, DCW working in tandem to help other victims

With assistance from the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), acid attack survivors now have been interacting and counselling women who approach the Commission with fresh cases.

The engagement between victims and survivors, who work together to help each other, has managed to bring out a ray of hope in the victims to lead a normal life. The new complainants who come to DCW to lodge their complaints are assisted by acid attack survivors, who have been deployed by the Commission to hear their grievances.

The helpdesk at DCW had been completely reorganised. Under the new system, advocated by DCW chief Swati Maliwal, gives a chance to the survivors to come forward and interact with the women, who are victimised due to cruel and unjust treatment.

This has also given hope to many women who approach the Commission with their problems. "We have set up systems where today we have acid attack survivors being employed in the DCW helpdesk, where they hear the grievances of complainants and guide them as to what options they should consider," Maliwal said.

Earlier, keeping in mind the concerns of acid attack survivors, the Commission had written to the Delhi government and its agencies to facilitate jobs for them. DCW itself has appointed three acid attack survivors, Ashiya, Shaheen and Mohini, for this purpose.

The system has created a sense of belongingness amongst the survivors by making them a part of the system. Survivors have turned out to be great guides as they connect the victims who approach the Commission with their sufferings and give them hope to live and fight. "I feel blessed to have DCW which has supported me throughout and has created an urge in me to work and lead a normal life," said an acid attack survivor.

The Commission has also been working on the Acid Watch and Rehabilitation Programme, which monitors the sale of acid and incidence of acid attacks so as to prevent them and to make Delhi-acid-attack free. A survivor, expressing her happiness said: "The Commission is doing good for people like us who once had lost hopes of survival."