We started a campaign #IStandWithRekha for acid attack survivor Rekha, to bring to the notice of the government that compensation has to be provided for all the acid attack survivors who have not been guaranteed compensation within 15 days. With the joint effort of all The Logical Indian community members and “Make Love Not Scars” there was timely Release of Compensation for Acid Attack Survivors.
The Challenge
In June 2015, The Logical Indian in collaboration with ‘Make Love Not Scars’ (a non-governmental organization dedicated to provide acid attack victims an opportunity to regain their life on their own), became aware of the plight of acid attack victims’ recovery, due to lack of resources and support. Rekha, then twenty years old, had suffered a brutal acid attack at the hands of her husband. Despite the mental and physical trauma she had suffered, Rekha was trying to recover but was not able to. This was because the compensation that is to be given to an acid attack victim within 15 days of the attack, had not come Rekha’s way even after one and a half years.
The Logical Indian and ‘Make Love Not Scars’, decided to take matters to the public and ensure that the heinousness does not continue.
The Effort
After posting about Rekha, who had not been given the compensation guaranteed within 15 days even after 1.5 years, a lot of members from The Logical Indian community came forward to help her. But Rekha was not the only one who needed help. The Logical Indian community knew that there were many others like Rekha, who were facing similar problems with delay in compensation.
The survivors are legally entitled to compensation and free preliminary medical aid from the government but the government had failed in this aspect. Neither was the compensation ever released on time nor was the due medical aid provided.
To right this wrong, The Logical Indian started a campaign called #IStandWithRekha encouraging their community members to write an email to the government authorities and widely Tweet/Share the campaign with #IStandWithRekha. More details here.
The ‘Here and Now’
#SkillsNotScars –
Very soon, The Logical Indian teamed up with more organizations along with ‘Make Love Not Scars’, such as Meer Foundation, Humans Of Bombay and Hyper, and a job portal for acid attack survivors under the name ‘SkillsNotScars’.
#SkillsNotScars launched 4 video CVs of acid attack survivors. In these video CVs, survivors speak about their skills, work experience and job requirement. Watch these
videos here.
These videos soon started trending on social media, and more acid attack survivors started registering themselves.
Ria Sharma, CEO and founder of ‘Make Love Not Scars’ says –
“Jobs will get survivors out of their homes and into workplaces. It will ensure they are evaluated on the basis of their talent not their appearance. It will give them the means to make a living and become contributing members of society. Because when you’re hiring acid attack survivors, you’re helping them fight back”.
#EndAcidSale –
The campaign started on 31st August by Make Love Not Scars in association with The Logical Indian with Communication Partner: Ogilvy India | Production Manager: 1st December, garnered worldwide support and so far more than 300,000 people have signed the petition appealing our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban acid sale. The motive of the campaign is to strictly regulate acid sales as per the laws and make it inaccessible to the common people. The campaign also focuses on implementing strict laws so to make India free of the horrific crime of acid attack.
Reshma, a twenty-year-old acid attack survivor, was the face of this campaign for a noble cause. The campaign won a gold at the 63rd Cannes Lions ad festival 2016.
The Logical Indian now is actively collaborating with organizations to end acid attack and also help survivors regain normalcy and acceptance in society. At every point, community has come together to condemn these attacks and has brought permanent and effective changes in this regard.
