In a bustling marketplace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a 16-year-old girl feeds her little sister, unaware that a group of men stalks behind her. When they catch up, they throw her to the ground and beat her. A woman throws liters of acid on top of the girl’s head. Her ears and skin melt, revealing bone. She is temporarily blinded and permanently scarred.
Khoun Sophal planned this attack because the victim, Tat Marina, was having an affair with her husband. Even when Marina tried to end the relationship, the man, Cambodia’s Undersecretary of State, Svay Sitha, demanded that she continue their relationship by locking her in a hotel room without clothing for 10 days and threatening to harm her family if she left him. When his wife learned of the affair, her response was to resort to a type of violence that runs rampant all over the world.
The motivation for acid violence comes from the notion that if a mistress is no longer physically beautiful, then the husband will break off the relationship. Monira Rahman, the Executive Director of the Acid Survivors Foundation, explained this mentality to the United Nations: ‘If I take her beauty away, no one will marry her.”
Forty percent of acid violence cases in Cambodia are caused by extramarital affairs or jealousy, according to the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity. After Marina’s attack in 1999, the number of reported acid attacks in Cambodia surged from seven to 40. Many human rights activists believe this increase is due to the fact that Sophal was never punished for her crime. Instead, Sitha paid for Marina’s medical bills and warned her that reporting the attack to the authorities would result in more violence. Afraid for her life, she remained silent — until she met filmmakers Patti Duncan and Skye Fitzgerald.
While shooting their film Bombhunters in Cambodia in 2006, Duncan and Fitzgerald (of Portland, Ore.’s SpinFilm) discovered the prevalence of acid attacks throughout the country. They were shocked by the number of people in the marketplaces who had deformities from chemical burns. Research led them to Tat Marina’s case, which has become well known in Cambodia. The couple decided to seek justice for Marina by way of a documentary film; they lived in and out of the country for the next three years shooting footage about her story.
Duncan and Fitzgerald ensured that Marina and her family moved out of the Cambodia before premiering their documentary, Finding Face, last year. With the family safe from Sitha’s threats, they could screen their epic work, which features Marina recounting her attack and recovery.
Since the film’s debut, “We have seen Marina completely transform,” says Fitzgerald. “She is now an incredibly confident individual who’s willing to speak publicly to tell her story. Finding Face became a vehicle for the family to tell their truth.”
Acid violence is documented not only Cambodia, but also in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hong Kong, Uganda, China, England and the United States.
In Bangladesh, people who throw acid can be subject to the death penalty. In Iran, people who throw acid can be subject to losing the body parts that they’ve disfigured on others. A report by Cornell Law School released recently reveals that despite harsh, eye-for-an-eye punishments, acid violence in these countries continues. It concludes that countries looking to eliminate acid violence should enact laws limiting the access to acid, such as requiring licensing of distributors and business users of acid and banning its use in households.
It’s brave survivors like Tat Marina, revealing media like Finding Face and proactive government intervention that will lead to the end of these tragedies.
To learn more about Finding Face, visit www.findingface.org.
For updates on upcoming television airings of the film in the United States and more, follow @FindingFace on Twitter.