The Acid Survivors Foundation is a Bangladeshi organization dedicated to raising awareness and preventing acid attacks and providing survivors with medical and legal aid.
The Foundation was founded by Dr John Morrison OBE in premises subsidized by the British High Commission/British Womens' Association in 1999 with substantial support from UNICEF and the Canadian International Development Agency. Nasreen Huq a commanding personality in the field of social reform and human rights in Bangladesh campaigned internationally for ASF. For her dedication, in 2005, Monira Rahman the Executive Director of ASF was awarded the Human Rights Award by Amnesty International. The number of acid attacks has reduced by about 40% since 2003.
ASF initially began as a service delivery organization. Currently, it is in the process of moving towards a rights-based development organization.
ASF's have subsequently been established in Uganda, Cambodia and Pakistan sustained by ASTI (Acid Survivors Trust International) also headed by Sir John Morrison.
Contents |
| Period | Number of incidents | Number of persons attacked | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | Total | ||||
| May-December: 1999 | 115 | 58 | 139 | ||
| 2000 | 172 | 98 | 235 | ||
| 2001 | 250 | 140 | 344 | ||
| 2002 | 366 | 219 | 487 | ||
| 2003 | 335 | 185 | 412 | ||
| 2004 | 266 | 180 | 325 | ||
| 2005 | 212 | 144 | 268 | ||
| Months | Number of incidents | Number of persons attacked | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2005 | Women | Men | Children (Under 18) | Total | ||
| 2006 | 2005 | ||||||
| January | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 12 |
| February | 12 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 19 |
| March | 12 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 18 |
| April | 13 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 22 |
| Total | 47 | 58 | 36 | 14 | 12 | 62 | 71 |
North East England businessman and entrepreneur Javed Majid and plastic surgeon Charles Viva have been instrumental in drawing attention to the acid burn cause since the early 1990s, in which Mr. Javed Majid – an active patron of several worldwide charities – paid for a viciously attacked and severely burnt Bangladeshi woman to be brought to the UK and operated on. Since then the two men have promoted the cause, and organise teams of surgeons to operate in developing countries around the world, each year. Both men were honored by ASTI's patron HRH Princess Royal, at a reception held at the High Commission of Pakistan in London on 15 March 2011 to mark the five-year partnership between ASTI and Acid Survivors Foundation Pakistan (ASF-P).