No more scarred

Sheroes Café – Where Acid Attack Survivors Get A Whole New Lease Of Life

Mariam Fatma & Varada Kachroo
AIS VKC Lko, IX B

Trigger Warning: Violence
*splash*
As seconds passed, agonised screams of a woman engulfed the streets as she struggled to pacify the blazing fire on her face. She scratched, scraped, and screeched as hard as she could, but the end to her suffering was nowhere in sight. A few months later, she found herself in the emergency ward, with her aggrieved parents by her side. “Our life’s over,” they said. Baffled, she questioned “Why?” till she saw, with what was left of her eyesight, her disfigured face in the mirror nearby. It wasn’t her face; it wasn’t the body she remembered, yet it was her life that ended! But did it really? Alok Dixit, co-founder of the Sheroes Hangout Café, says no! For “there is nothing stronger than a broken woman who rebuilds herself,” he tacked on.

The idea
Nestled amongst a row of busy shopfronts in Lucknow is a café named Sheroes, housed and run by women who have survived acid attacks and are now on a course to redefine their lives. “Many women survivors led solitary lives prior to working at the café. They were ostracised and left to struggle with feelings of shame and trauma. Hence, it became necessary to wipe out those scars from their subconsciousness. Sheroes does exactly that by aiding them at the earliest, and by treating them as fighters rather than victims,” asserted Alok.

The inception
“Being appalled by the staggering figures of acid attacks in India coupled with a complete lack of awareness about the issue, I started the campaign #StopAcidAttacks way back in 2013. But somewhere along the road, I realised that the survivors of these brutal attacks required more immediate attention. For most of them faced unemployment and were forced to rely on their families that were already exhausted by the burden of their medical expenses. This is when I resolved to turn my campaign into something more concrete,” summarised Alok.  In 2014 thus, he inaugurated an organisation, namely the Chhanv Foundation, for the rehabilitation of these women. Upon further realising that many of them lacked the necessary professional skills, he laid the foundation stone for Sheroes, where both skilled and unskilled women work and earn together. Its first branch, entirely based on crowd funding, was set up in Agra in 2016. This was followed by a second café in Lucknow.
 
The execution
With stories of the survivors’ horrific ordeal inscribed on its walls, Sheroes not only works towards the empowerment of women, but also materialises it in the form of an eatery, an information hub, an activism workshop, a one-point centre, and a help desk for the victims of violence. “Guests can avail these facilities, all while learning about acid attacks and meeting the strong, resilient women who endured them. One would find Farah at the counter; she was attacked by her husband in 2019. Shanti, who was attacked by a distant relative over some familial dispute, can be found serving the orders, and Rani, who was 17 when she was attacked by a random suitor, managing the helpdesk,” detailed Alok.

The reception
Sheroes was honoured with the Nari Shakti Puruskaar in 2016 by the then President of India, Late Pranab Mukherjee. It has also been acknowledged by numerous global organisations such as the German Best of Business Awards, as its reach extends far beyond the country’s borders. However, the journey to empowerment wasn’t always smooth or as Alok puts it, “In 2018, we received a notice from UP Mahila Kalyan Nigam to vacate the café, citing its inability to fulfil its ‘purpose’ as one of the reasons”. However, the general public extended their support to the café, and protests were held to express solidarity with the survivors. As the matter reached the Allahabad court thus, orders were issued to revoke the notice. This is how a café championed the cause of women, of survivors, not once but twice!

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