With International Women’s Day being today it made sense to bring awareness to Laxmi, a brave 16-year-old girl who survived an acid attack thrown on her face by her friend’s 32-year-old brother.
Her attacker was rejected by Laxmi for his romantic advances towards her and as a result of being ignored by her; he disfigured her face with acid while she was waiting at a bus stop in New Delhi's Khan Market in 2005.
The vicious attack has now left Laxmi with a permanently disfigured face. Despise her facial disfigurement it didn’t discourage her strength, courage and spirit to have her voice heard.
Fast forward to today, you can see her being embraced by US First Lady, Michelle Obama. Laxmi was personally selected for the International Women of Courage, prestigious award. She was honoured for all her hard work in bringing public awareness to acid attack victims.
Many acid victims tend to lean towards fear and shame after such an attack and as a result, avoid work and school and most devastasting of all, committing suicide. Laxmi on the other hand didn’t let her disfigurement hide her from society and daily activities.
"She became the standard-bearer in India for the movement to end acid attacks. She made repeated appearances on national television, gathered 27,000 signatures for a petition to curb acid sales, and took her cause to the Indian Supreme Court" according to the quote made by State department in an article from NDTV.com.
Laxmi’s successful rallies and petitions bringing public awareness to the victims of acid attacks has been a success. She has single handidly brought attention to the supreme courts in India which has resulted in an order for the Indian government to regulate the sale of acids as well as pursuing and prosecuting acid attackers faster.
Her persistence continues to push for progress today.
Michelle Obama(Left) and Laxmi (Right) / brunchnews
Mrs. Obama had this to say in her speech, “When we see these women raise their voices and move their feet and empower others to create change, we need to realize that each of us has that same power and that same obligation,” quoted from the Washington Times.
After Laxmi accepted her award she then recited in Hindi a poem. Here is a small part of the poem. “You haven’t thrown acid on my face; you threw it on my dreams. You didn’t have love in your heart; you had acid in it.”
In honour of women’s empowerment we also recognize and salute Laxmi as a fearless leader.
Featured Image: femina.in
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