Acid Attack Survivor Calendar Shows Beauty Is Much More Than a Pretty Face

A new calendar featuring women on every page launched in India this week to celebrate International Women’s Day. But it isn’t full of conventional pinups.

Bello, a Spanish word meaning beautiful and the name of the calendar, showcases 11 survivors of acid violence.

It is produced by Stop Acid Attacks, a New Delhi-based rehabilitation group for survivors of a form of violence that uses acid as a weapon, mostly against women.

Ashish Shukla, co-founder of the group says the calendar is designed to show that “beauty is much more than just a pretty face.”

India has some of the highest-recorded incidences of acid violence. Women are often targeted for turning down advances from men, rejecting marriage proposals or for failing to provide enough money and gifts to their husband’s family in marriages, among other kinds of domestic disputes.

A 2011 study on acid attacks in some South Asian countries said: “Acid attackers aims for a woman’s face in an attempt to destroy what many members of society consider to be one of her most important assets—her beauty.”

Shot over a period of six months by three photographers in eight different locations, the calendar features the gleaming smiles of the women in locations “that best define their dreams,” said Mr. Shukla.

In the photograph below, for instance, 17-year-old Dolly, who goes by one name, stood wearing a medic’s coat holding a book titled “I want to be a Doctor.” Shot in Dolly’s hometown Agra, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the photograph underscores her aspiration of running her own medical clinic.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Geeta Mahor, pictured below, works at Sheroes’ Hangout, a café in Agra, run by a group of survivors associated with Stop Acid Attacks. Rahul Saharan, a 25-year-old Delhi-based photographer, shot 10 of the 12 photographs that appear in the calendar. He took Ms. Mahor in a chef’s outfit since her ambition is to cook for a living.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

March features 23-year-old Rupa, Soniya Chaudhury and Ritu Saini, 20.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Laxmi Aggarwal was 15 years old when a man hurled acid at her, scarring her face. In 2009, her assailant was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ms. Aggarwal, also one of the founding members of Stop Acid Attacks, has led campaigns against over-the-counter sale of acids to prevent the occurrence of attacks. In 2013, India’s Supreme Court gave state authorities three months to implement new rules to control over-the-counter sales of acids. The top court has directed that retailers should hold licenses to sell acid after the government categorized the substance as poison. Enforcement of the new law is patchy however.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Soniya Choudhary, who lives in Ghaziabad, in northern India, was working in an upscale salon when she was attacked with acid more than a decade ago. Ms. Choudhary continues to run a small salon from her house in Ghaziabad. Shown below, the 28-year-old posed with her makeup tool kit belt.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

This photograph featuring Ritu Saini is perhaps the one photographer Saharan says he enjoyed shooting the most. An acid attack in 2012 made her drop out of school and quit the state-level volleyball team to remain indoor in her house in the northern Indian city of Rohtak.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Neetu, now 26, was only a three-year-old when she suffered an attack. Despite her disfiguring injuries and her ongoing struggle to keep her vision, Neetu’s ambition of getting onto stage and singing to a packed house remains undamaged.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Chanchal Paswan and her sister Sonam say they were sleeping on the terrace of their house in a village in Bihar when they were attacked by a male neighbor. At the time, Chanchal alleged that she was attacked because she had rejected a marriage proposal by her assailant.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Seven surgeries later, 23-year-old Rupa smiles confidently with the hope that one day instead of spending money on her treatment, she will be able to earn a fashion designing degree.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

In 2007, Rajwant Kaur, was on her way to work at a thread-making factory with two of her friends when all three of them suffered an acid attack. One of them, Sandeep Kaur, died in a hospital in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab three months after the incident. Ms. Kaur, whose vision was impaired in the attack, wants to become a photojournalist.

: Courtesy of Stop Acid Attacks

Sonam Paswan is Chanchal’s sister, both of whom were attacked at their home in Patna.

: abcd

Geeta, pictured below, has long campaigned for justice. Eight years after she was attacked in a northern Indian city called Meerut, Geeta’s attacker still hasn’t been caught.