Acid-Attack Survivor Uses Beauty Vlogs to Raise Awareness
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- September 3, 2015
Reshma Make Love Not Scars
Make love, not scars. That’s the message of one YouTube beauty vlogger and acid-attack survivor whose story is going viral thanks to her heartbreaking (and empowering) story.
Reshma, from Mumbai, India, was visiting Northern India in 2014 when her brother-in-law and others attacked her, allegedly dousing her with sulfuric acid (which is sold over the counter in India).
The attack left Reshma’s face disfigured and her left eye gone, according to an Indie GoGo fundraising account established to raise funds for cosmetic surgery for Reshma. Now, she spreads awareness (and beauty tips) in a YouTube video series called “Beauty Tips by Reshma.”
“You’ll find a red lipstick easily in the market, just like concentrated acid,” Reshma says in one powerful tutorial video, as she demonstrates how to achieve “perfect red lips. “This is the reason why, everyday a girl becomes a victim of an acid attack.” Watch the clip below.
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Reshma teamed up with “Make Love Not Scars” to urge those who watch her videos to sign a petition to get the over-the-counter sale of acid banned in India.
She is featured on the campaign’s website among a number of other acid-attack survivors and campaign supporters.
In 2013, India’s Supreme Court ordered state authorities to implement new rules to control the sales of the chemicals which have been used for decades to harm or kill people, women in particular, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Supreme Court prohibited anyone under the age of 18 from purchasing acids like nitric, hydrochloric and sulfuric and said that the acid is “completely prohibited unless the seller maintains a log/register recording the sale of acid,” the Journal reported.
But, two years later, the harmful acids are still easy to get ahold of.
“To explain in layman terms, anyone can go and purchase toilet-cleaning acids without any questions asked and for just Rs 100 [$1.50],” a letter posted on the campaign’s site to the Prime Minister of India reads.
Will you sign the petition? Sound off below.
–Char Adams
