VOA常速英语2007年-Acid Attacks Are a Growing Form of Revenge in U

By Birungi Machrine
Kampala
26 November 2007

Attacks using acid are becoming more frequent in Uganda.  Up to 2003, there were only 145 recorded attacks, but over the last three years, there have already been 87. Survivors¹ often suffer from severe emotional and psychological trauma², while the perpetrators can be difficult to catch.  Voice of America English to Africa’s Machrine Birungi reports from Kampala.

Sulfuric acid is commonly used in car and motorcycle batteries. Today, it’s being used to disfigure perceived enemies, including business competitors and cheating spouses³ and lovers.

The weapon is cheap and easy to find – it sells for just $1.80 in local markets. It can also be obtained from petrol stations and school laboratories.

The Uganda Acid Survivor’s Foundation is the only organization in the country working to support and empower people attacked with acid.

Stella Amony, the executive director of the group, explains why attacks are increasingly becoming common in Uganda. “Guns are not easily accessible to everyone in the community, but acid is accessible, and anyone can buy acid from wherever," she says. "There are no restrictions⁴ from accessing the acid. So community members have realized that this is a very good weapon, and some people are not getting real heavy punishments for this.”

Acid attack survivors often face serious problems in getting legal recourse. Poverty, corruption⁵, and ignorance of the legal system often keep assailants from being punished.

Regina Namatovu Sekiwoko, a university graduate, was attacked three years ago. Her face was completely disfigured, and she has never found her attacker.

“It was on 1 July 2004, we were on our way home with my husband, and we were attacked by a person who up to us," she explained.  "Today, I  [still] don’t know who that person was. In Uganda, the punishment given to acid attacker is so poor and unfair to the victims.  For example, my suspected attacker was charged with assault, but I feel life imprisonment⁶ should be the best punishment.  They just [picked up] someone who had my phone.  [But] when I went to the Criminal Investigations⁷ Department Offices they said [they] didn’t have a suspect.  So it ended there.  Up to today I [still] don’t know who burnt me and the reason why I was burnt.”

Police released the woman who had her cell phone because there was no evidence that she was the one who threw the acid, or who initially⁸ stole the phone.

Amony says social problems, including high levels of violence, are behind the acid attacks. She says that many people use violence as a way of solving family disputes.

She says many people think the victims are mostly women.

“That’s the conclusion that many people have, but we have realized that there are some men who are attacked. Forty-five percent of the survivors are men," noted⁹ Amony. "Unlike some countries where you find that the main targets are women because of cultural reasons, here it is more or less proportional…. We have children, too. Children become targets. For instance, if a mother is separated from her husband and the mother is not willing to go back, the father could use a child as a target to hurt the woman.”

After acid attacks, discrimination makes it difficult for the survivors to find work and to create successful self-employment opportunities. In addition, many survivors lose confidence in themselves.

Faced with this challenge, the Uganda Acid Survivor’s Foundation has set up an income-generating unit to help survivors produce pressure garments – including masks, chin straps¹⁰, sleeves and gloves – that protect the burned skin and promote healing.

“We are four in the unit and we are all survivors," explained Regina Namatovu Sekiwoko, who works in the pressure garment unit.  "What happens is that we get referrals from different hospitals.  We measure the area [described by the doctor] that requires a pressure garment. After measuring, we make the patterns and [then sew the garments].”

The Acid Survivor’s Foundation says acid attack survivors need special attention. As a result, it's created a department of social workers who provide psychological and social support. It also encourages peer counseling and exchanges that help the survivors develop coping strategies. 

The foundation also has a legal rights education program for survivors. The group, along with the NGO called Justice and Rights Associates, is lobbying politicians and the public for legislation to protect survivors and crack down on attackers.

The foundation and its legal partners have also formed a monthly working group to discuss ways of regulating the acid trade.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

3 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。