Acid Burn

After looking at a range of burn wounds, I had to come to a decision on what type of burn I would be recreating for my final piece. As I feel it is a widespread issue that needs to be addressed, I decided on creating an burn from an acid attack.

Acid attacks are rife worldwide, and not only a couple of weeks ago, a lady from Southampton was attacked with acid, in front of Turtle Bay, situated a 5 minute walk from the university. Cara Whitlock, aged 37 and a mother of 6, was attacked outside Turtle Bay in Guildhall Square, in front of a crowd of onlookers. She suffered burns to her face, arms and neck, and has been left blind in one eye, with the fact that she may not ever be able to regain her sight in that eye.

Image released by police of Cara Whitlock, after the attack.
September 2015.
The Guardian

An acid attack is a violent assault that can change the life of the victim tremendously. Acid is a corrosive substance, which means it corrodes through the skin, causing serious tissue damage, even burning straight through to the bone. The symptoms of an acid attack are bleaching or darkening of the skin, burning sensations, itching, coughing blood, trouble breathing and tissue necrosis. The acid used in acid attacks, otherwise known as a vitriol attack, is usually nitric or sulphuric acid, as they cause more damage. Hydrochloric acid is little used, as it is not as potent. It is not only the physical body that is affected, but the psychological and social damage is extensive. Victims become paranoid and nervous about even the smallest of trips back out into public. Anxiety, depression and increased self-consiousness are all after-effects of an attack. In some places such as Saudi Arabia, the victims are even more psychologically damaged by the media, as they choose not to cover their stories. Acid attacks are rarely reported by the media, which makes the victims feel as if it is their own fault they were attacked. Victims are usually left to be looked after by their family and friends, which further causes more psychological damage, and a feeling of being helpless.

Although acid attacks happen all over the world, Bangladesh has the highest rates of attacks overall and highest rates of attacks on women, with 3,512 people being attacked overall. The attacks are concentrated mainly to South Asia. Luckily for the survivors, there are various charities that offer support and care, called the Acid Survivors Trust. The Acid Survivors Trust International is a UK based charity, offering help to the sister organizations in Asia and Africa. The sad truth is that countries in Asia and Africa do not have the substantial funding needed to pay specialist burn units, for example Cambodia has one burn clinic in it's whole country. 

Acid throwing (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_throwing (Accessed: 9 October 2015).Association, P. (2015) ‘Two men and a woman arrested after acid attack on Carla Whitlock’, The Guardian, .