Izabella Demavlys

In the fall of 2009 I left for Pakistan to start a project around acid and kerosene oil burn victims. I worked with a non-governmental foundation called Depilex Smile Again Foundation which helps burned women with reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation and therapy. There are currently over 400 women waiting for reconstructive surgery after acid attacks in Lahore, Pakistan.

Through the foundation I met one woman - Saira - who stood out in particular. Saira was attacked with acid by her husband after refusing to move in with him. After multiple operations, her face still wears horrific scars and will mark the way people see her for the rest of her life. My aim with this project is to follow these women … while they rebuild their faces through surgery [and] the courage, acceptance and self-esteem to continue go on living with a disfigured face.

Until today there has not been one single case that has brought any of the attackers to justice.

It is International Women’s Day today. While it is a day to celebrate the ‘economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future,’ we must not forget the inequality that women still face in certain parts of the world: rape victims who stand to face death at the hands of their very own male siblings should they come forth to file a report, spousal abuse victims who suffer in silence because their husbands have a better social standing by virtue of being male… Though, I wonder, how barbaric can one be, regardless of gender, to subject another life to such heinous acts, as these women suffer? How did we come to this?

For more information on Demavlys’ work, please visit her website.