Activists seek aid for acid victims

Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

CAMPAIGNERS have called on the government to ramp up health-care and rehabilitation services for victims of acid attacks, following a meeting between representatives of seven local NGOs and a delegation of American researchers in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.

The meeting, organised by Cambodia’s Committee to Eliminate All Discrimination Against Women (NGO-CEDAW), was timed to capitalise on the attention being paid to acid crimes, as a government committee prepares to finalise a draft of legislation addressing the issue, said Dr Pung Chhiv Kek, president of the rights group Licadho and chair of NGO-CEDAW.

“As the government of Cambodia is drafting this new law, it creates momentum for us,” she said after the meeting.

Pung Chhiv Kek praised the committee’s focus on the imposition of harsh penalties for perpetrators of acid crimes and the regulation of acid sales, but said the government should also provide physical and mental health care for survivors of acid attacks. In addition, she said, public education campaigns should be initiated to discourage discrimination against victims.

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