We are a Delhi-based NGO, founded in 2014. Today we are a network of almost 100 acid attack survivors among them 30 are employed with the foundation on different projects. Chhanv works in multiple directions for at-risk, socially isolated acid attack survivors. Chhanv works as one point center for all kinds of help needed by survivors.  

BACKGROUND CHHANV FOUNDATION

It was the year 2013 that we, a group of friends started the Stop Acid Attacks campaign against acid violence. During that period of continuous struggle, we found that acid attack ‘victims’ were shown the least concern be it in jobs, education, or even by the government, police, and courts. And it was then in the year 2014 that the team decided to turn our campaign into a registered organization for the rehabilitation of acid attack survivors.While helping survivors to rehabilitate and providing them jobs, we found that many of them lacked professional skills and so we thought that a café could be the only place where both the skilled and unskilled ones can work and earn together besides spreading awareness to other people about acid attacks. Thus, the idea of Sheroes Hangout came up. A venue where new wave feminism evolves every day to overcome the challenges faced by women in South Asian societies and cultures.We started Sheroes Hangout in Agra in December 2014. Today, with two cafes, in Agra & Lucknow, the foundation has employed 30 survivors and added value to the life of hundreds of other girls by providing them counseling, medical help, and career and education opportunities.

VISION:

We have an aim of making India free from acid attacks. We want the survivors to have access to fast justice in terms of the punishment of the perpetrators, the compensation amount & the complete rehabilitation of the survivors. Chhanv Foundation is to empower the acid attack survivors by fulfilling all their needs like medical treatment, their education along with their kid's education & the much-needed employment. We are to deploy the best methodology to provide rehabilitation, and healthcare, to practice and promote good governance. We have an aim of making India free from acid attacks, we want the survivors to have access to fast justice in terms of the punishment of the perpetrators, the compensation amount & the complete rehabilitation of the survivors. Chhanv Foundation is to empower acid attack survivors by fulfilling all their needs like medical treatment, their education along with their kid's education & the much-needed employment. We are to deploy the best methodology to provide rehabilitation, and healthcare, to practice and promote good governance.

• Our organization focuses mainly on the prevention of acid attacks and the welfare of acid attack survivors. We started with a campaign for the prevention and awareness sake called Stop Acid Attacks in the year 2013 and later formed an organization for the welfare of acid attack survivors who are often left unheard and unattended.
• As we reach out to cases of acid attacks firsthand, we help them in various ways rather than offering a welfare service. Through our projects, we are helping the girls in their medical treatments (always the first priority). These cases of acid attacks happen mostly in rural backgrounds. The survivor women and girls and their families face many challenges to afford the treatment. We ensure that these girls get complete medical recovery free of cost. It is a long process. Girls with serious injuries undergoing treatment are benefitted from our Sheroes Trauma Relief Center in Noida.
• As they recover from their major injuries, we help them in their employment. The girls and women often face difficulties in achieving employment after the attack. Education is a part of the process. We are taking care of that as well. At Sheroes Hangout cafe in Agra and Lucknow, we offer them employment and also training, and professional orientation.
• To ensure employment for every survivor of acid attacks, survivor girls and women are next on our objectives. In addition to employment at Sheroes Hangout cafe, the organization has reiterated its call for concrete steps in terms of building a genuine social and employment plan. New chapters of Cafe Sheroes will address the employment needs of acid attack survivors associated with the foundation and simultaneously increase the awareness against acid violence in the country. The new projects are planned in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Sheroes cafes are designed in the way that cafes are centers of excellence for survivors to gain knowledge, develop skills, network, and access to resources of the foundation and its partner organizations to further their entrepreneurial skills.
• Meanwhile, we are aiming to ensure that after the attack the survivor must get benefitted from unemployment allowance for their unprivileged and poor families for the time they spend in the hospital under-recovery through a Scheme of unemployment reinsurance. This is the need of the hour in states like the U.P. where hundreds of acid attacks are reported annually. We are looking forward to associations that may help us in this objective.

The foundation’s campaign Stop Acid attacks is a seminal effort in bringing awareness to the rising number of acid violence occurring in India. Chappak released in 2019 across the globe is another effort of the organization to create awareness among the public masses. Our network of acid attack survivors is greeted with praise by all corners of society for their restless fight to stop such violence. Sheroes have turned out as places where faces with scars are not behind the scenes. Sheroes’ is a power to reckon with — a mighty effort and narrative of our moving times. Once burnt and scarred for life, there are around 30 survivors who are fellow humans slowly shedding the veil and counting on courage and their contributions have posted our advocacy on the acid attack.Our foundation’s work has been recognized globally as we proudly achieved different milestones winning US government’s prestigious award, NDTV Indian Of The Year & CNN-IBN Indian Of the Year, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s award for Stop Acid Attacks campaign, President of India’s Nari Shakti Award for Sheroes Hangout model and many more.  Our supporters include generous individuals as well as organizations.

This proposal is a part of our mission to provide acid attack survivors equal access to social protection and services, advanced medical facilities, justice, psycho-social assistance, vocational training, employment opportunities, and financial security, in order to fully build upon their entrepreneurship, skills and human capital as active members of society. 

Since the Coronavirus has hit various countries across the globe, we too, are not unaffected by this global pandemic. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty. The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions of livelihoods at risk. This catastrophe has drastically affected the small community of acid attack survivors who were already cornered by a society full of taboos. The year 2020 brought an abundance of challenges for the survivors. They have been fighting for their survival, medical needs, employment, social hurdles, and mental wellbeing. They are in an annihilating situation and require our urgent attention.