January 17, 2011
Bangkok (AFP) - Morm Nheb still remembers how her own burnt flesh smelt when her ex-husband doused her face with acid, scarring her for life.
"It's not a good smell," said the mother-of-two, whose life has been a struggle ever since the day her ex-husband vented his anger over their divorce.
"There's no going back after I was splashed with acid, and I am living like a dead body or a living ghost," she said.
Women have increasingly become the victims of acid burn in Cambodia, where the caustic liquid is easily and cheaply available -- and attackers rarely brought to justice.
There are no official statistics and many cases go unreported, according to Chhun Sophea, a programme manager at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC).
Acid violence is a serious problem in some other Asian countries as well. Bangladesh has seen 86 cases with 111 injuries in the first nine months of the year, according to the London-based Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), an NGO campaigning to make acid attacks a criminal offence in the country.
In Pakistan, women's rights group the Aurat Foundation recorded 20 cases of acid throwing in the first half of 2010.
Even though women are mostly victims in those countries, men in Cambodia are just as likely to be a target.
Som Bunnarith, 39, a long-term resident at CASC, is one of these male victims. He was burnt by his wife five years ago when they were arguing over his many late nights out. The attack left him blind.
Established in 2006 by its sister organization the Children’s Surgical Center (CSC), CASC is committed to helping survivors and ending acid violence through legal reform and preventive education, according to wikipedia website.
