Personal Terrorism

In Pakistan, women are the victims of "acid attacks, which are commonly used to terrorize and subjugate women and girls in a swath of Asia from Afghanistan through Cambodia (men are almost never attacked with acid). Because women usually don’t matter in this part of the world, their attackers are rarely prosecuted and acid sales are usually not controlled. It’s a kind of terrorism that becomes accepted as part of the background noise in the region." [--Nicholas D. Kristof, NYTimes]

This is absolutely horrifying, and I had no idea whatsoever that this was happening. Read the news story on the NYTimes site, and see more commentary and images here. I have to warn you, the images on both pages are graphic, especially so on the latter page. (If you have a weak stomach, I suggest you load up the second page, read the story, then hit 'end' to go to the bottom of the page, and scroll up to see the last picture, which (sadly) really hit it home for me.)

I really can't emphasize how incredibly awful this is, and how incredibly heartbreaking. One woman had acid thrown in her face by a young man when she was TWELVE, after she rejected him for marriage. Could you imagine having acid thrown in your face as you entered middle school? Can you even imagine having to contemplate marriage in middle school? (And taking the possibility of possibly dying from acid burns into account when making that decision?) Jeez, I just feel like crying.

[via Shakesville]

Edit: Oh god, I'm not sure I have the strength to peruse the page of the organization working to stop this and help the women affected. Now I am crying.