Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Physical appearance is a big deal in this selfie-loving society. My attacker wanted to destroy my looks ...it was the ultimate thing she could do
WHY ACID IS NOW A COMMON WEAPON..
As with most women her age, Naomi Oni takes selfies and posts them on Instagram and Facebook, enjoying the “likes” she gets. Now, it just takes a little more courage than it did five years ago. Back then, she did not think twice about posting images of her smooth, glowing skin and perfect cheekbones; she fit perfectly into a generation of millennials obsessed with looking good. But then jealous friend Mary Konye followed Naomi home to Dagenham, Essex, from her job at a Victoria’s Secret store in South East London. Disguised in a Muslim veil, she threw acid in her face, obliterating her selfie-ready looks. Since the December 2012 horror, acid attacks of this kind have soared to terrifying levels in Britain, making us the worst-hit nation in the developed world. The latest figures show reported cases have nearly trebled over four years, from 248 in 2012 to some 720 in 2016. And while many are in London, they are on the rise in areas including Northumbria, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. Over the Easter weekend, 22 revellers were injured when acid was sprayed indiscriminately in an East London club. Dr Jorge Leon-villapalos, of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, said in the past month and a half alone, he has taken five victims on as clients at his London clinic. And experts believe it is our selfie and looks-obsessed culture that is in part responsible. Now, more than ever, destroying someone’s beauty with a face-melting substance is the worst revenge or punishment you can inflict. Naomi, 25, who lost her eyelids, eyebrows and also has severe scarring on her thighs and chest, agrees. She recalls Konye sneering: “The only good thing about her is her looks.” Naomi says: “She wanted to destroy how I looked. It was the ultimate thing she could do. In this age of social media, where physical appearance is the most important thing to us, a lot of people would not be able to handle this. Even to young men, appearance is a big deal. “People get famous because of how they look, go viral because of how they look, get a reality show because of how they look. People think if they look a certain way, it gains a certain type of success. Someone who does this to someone knows they will struggle the rest of their life.” Jaf Shah, executive director of Acid Survivors Trust International, says: “Acid attacks on women have always been influenced by destroying beauty. But it’s more prevalent now, I suspect, partly because of the greater obsession around adhering to a certain appearance. There is a greater level of pressure on young people to conform to standard ideals of beauty, especially for young women, and to post photos.” In the UK, male-on-male attacks are most common – around 60%, bucking the trend around the rest of the world, where most victims are female. But still, it means about 288 of last year’s victims were women, and as so many cases go unreported for fear of reprisals, there could be far more. Jaf says: “It’s astonishingly high. What is the motivation? We are becoming looks-obsessed, the social media age has exacerbated it. The level of imagery being passed with social media networks is enormous. Those that throw acid know it will push victims into extreme social isolation.” Acid is becoming a weapon of choice because it is easy and cheap to obtain – and almost impossible to police. Teens as young as 13 carry it because common household products with concentrated acid – some up to 80% – have no age restriction on purchases. Carrying it is also risk free. You cannot currently be charged with carrying these substances, as with a knife or gun. While campaigners agree this would always be hard to police, they believe automatic confiscation could be introduced for anyone caught with products containing acid deemed “underage”. Those who are arrested and charged for an attack frequently receive light sentencing – again, campaigners and victims are demanding a review. Some