Mental health support for acid and burn survivors
Why this is important
Acid and burn violence is primarily a form of gender-based violence in South Asia. There are around 4,000 acid attack survivors in Bangladesh, and nearly two-third of them are women. Although acid attacks have reduced over the years due to more stringent legislation and punishments, an acid attack is life-changing for the survivors.
Many survivors as well as having to live and deal with the physical impairments have emotional and mental struggles to recover from too. Physical disfigurment is often targeted at the victim's face and in many cases affects other parts of the body too. Survivors can struggle to integrate back into society. Severe depression, suicidal tendencies and social anxiety are common among survivors. Often shunned by society, getting a job, getting married, attending social functions and other rites of passage for Bangladeshi women can become struggles for survivors of acid-based violence.
Emotional and mental health support is critical at almost every stage of their lives. The life-changing physical scars serve as a permanent reminder of the attack.
Our programme provides comprehensive emotional and mental health support from professionals. The project helps to strengthen their mental health support through a community based approach.
Project partner: Acid Survivors Foundation
Duration: April 2026 - December 2026
Phase 3
Building on lessons from its first phase, funded by the British Asian Trust, Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) strengthened its psychosocial programme. Counsellors had clearer orientation, regular supervision from a lead psychotherapist and advanced training in trauma-informed counselling and stress management. This made them more confident and helped prevent burnout. Survivor sessions were made simpler and more interactive, and better scheduling and travel support improved attendance.
As a result, more survivors took part and were satisfied, and many said they felt “socially respected” in their communities. ASF also began supporting people who survived flame burns, showing how the programme could adapt. ASF had also incorporated a livelihood component, allowing the burnt victims recovering from mental health issues to engage in income-worthy work through which they benefited individuals during that phase.
Project goals
The project will give face-to-face and telephone counselling to 400 acid and burn survivors. It will also train 32 survivors in tailoring and block printing, and help 25 survivors get formal jobs so they can earn a steady living.
What we are doing
We are looking to support acid attack survivors with the right form of mental health support. The Acid Survivors Foundation will design and implement three sets of interventions.
- Build a specialised trauma counselling model that looks at survivors’ physical, psychological and social needs. Head office staff will be trained first, and they will then support para-counsellors in the community.
- Expand counselling to two districts where many acid survivors live. Para-counsellors, who are survivors themselves, will be trained to offer face-to-face and telephone counselling to 400 fellow survivors of acid and burn violence.
- Help survivors earn a living by training 32 survivors in tailoring and block printing and helping 25 find formal jobs