Donate Your ‘Faceless Selfie’ to Help Acid Attack Survivors

Acid Attack Survivor, Laxmi, Face of the Campaign (Photo credit: Ravi Choudhary)

While we have a selfie to mark and celebrate every occasion, there are those who now hide their faces hoping never to be photographed. What if your innocuous, ubiquitous and a little vain thing called ‘selfie’ could help someone get their face back? Read on to find out how...

 In India, at least 3 acid attacks occur every week. A misplaced, vicious intention and Rs 15 is all it takes to disfugure someone’s face and life. What follows for the survivor is a harrowing tale of recovery (physical and psychological) and demand for justice.

On an average, an acid attack survivor has to go through multiple rounds of plastic surgery (usually  5 – 6 but in some cases, it could go up to 9 – 12) for facial reconstruction. The government provides only Rs 3 lakh as compensation – an amount not enough to fund these expensive procedures.

With this in mind, Stop Acid Attack, an organisation working for acid attack survivors, in association with Creative Agency Cheil India, has launched an innovative camapaign – ‘Donate A Face’.

Launching today, the campaign involves ‘giving up one’s face on social media to create awareness about acid attack survivors and generate funds for them.’

“We wanted to start a campaign which was easy  for everyone to associate with. We see everyone uploading selfies today; so an act as easy as giving up your face could help generate understanding on this issue. Our main aim is to leverage the power of social media to create a conducive environment; a space within civil society to drive attention towards these survivors,” says Ashish Shukla, campaigner, Stop Acid Attack.

Shukla adds that crowdfunding to help the survivors for their surgeries is the second step.

“We are sure people will come forward to donate. You can donate any amount you wish to. But first and foremost, we want people to get associated with this movement and spread the word,” says Ashish.

The campaign starts today (April 10) and will continue for 2 months.

Nima DT Namchu, Chief Creative Officer of Cheil Southwest Asia HQ feels “the campaign will put the spotlight on the problems faced by the survivors –  the expensive medical procedures, the lack of judicial support or any specific laws for perpetrators; and the fact that the compensation given by the government is simply not enough.”

To join the campaign, all you need to do is write donateaface.org  on a white paper, hold it in front of your face, click a selfie and upload it as your profile picture on Facebook or Twitter with #donateaface and tag as many friends as possible; then visit the site and contribute whatever you can and ask others to do the same.

In a simple way you can make a difference.

So give your face a break. Donate it for a cause. Today is the day.

It is not everyday that your ‘faceless selfie’ could help someone get their face back so that they could take a happy look in the mirror and go ‘click’!