‘Tough for acid attack survivors to get a job’

Acid attack survivors face a grim situation when it comes to finding a job as people hesitate to employ them, says campaigner Laxmi Saa.

Laxmi, who herself is an acid attack survivor and a campaigner with Stop Acid Attack, said that since most of the victims are women, their life is really hard.

“The major problem that comes across survivors is that nobody wants to give them a job. And since the victims are mostly girls, they become more of a burden as they cannot support their families financially,” she said.

Laxmi and her husband Alok have started “Sheroes Café,” an initiative by the Stop Acid Attack campaign, which provides employment to such people.

“The survivors face grim situations wherever they go to ask for jobs. Sheroes is one such project where these survivors are given space to work for themselves and live their life with dignity,” Laxmi said while speaking at Ericsson to mark the Global Diversity Awareness Month.

The activist, who runs the NGO Chaanv, talked about the stigma she faced while applying for jobs despite having degrees in several skill development courses.

“I did several skill development courses but when I went asking for job, the employers said that people would be scared of me. So I thought why not work in a call centre as my face won’t be visible to the clients. But there too I faced rejection. I was told that my colleagues would be scared by my looks,” she said.

Journalist-turned-activist Alok called for a positive environment around survivors, who face discrimination in myriad ways.