The Chhanv Foundation is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGO) set up by

Alok Dixit Alok Dixit is a journalist turned social activist, fighting for freedom of Internet in India. He is the founder member of Save Your Voice, a movement against Internet censorship in India and Stop Acid Attacks, a campaign against with the supp ...

and Ashish Shukla in 2013 in order to help the survivors of

acid attacks An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, tort ...

. It runs cafés known under the social enterprise Sheroes Hangout in

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

which works for the rehabilitation and employment of acid attack survivors. The NGO received the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

and in 2020 stated it had helped over 100 survivors of acid attacks.

Foundation

The Chhanv Foundation was set up by

and Ashish Shukla in 2013 in order to help the survivors of

, who are mostly women. They envisage to bring relief in the lives of the survivors of acid attacks and help in as many directions for them to have access to medical recovery and fast justice to fight back the irreparable impact of this crime.The

National Crime Records Bureau The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data, as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is ...

stated in 2021 that between 2014 and 2018 there had been almost 1,600 attacks.

Cafés

Chhanv opened the first café in

in 2014 where survivors could find employment, since they are shunned from many sectors of society. It was known as

Sheroes Hangout Sheroes Hangout is a cafe and community in India, set up by the Chhanv Foundation and run by survivors of acid attacks. The cafe aims to increase awareness of acid attacks and empower acid attack survivors. The cafe waitresses are survivors of acid ...

and other branches were opened in

and

. The parent model of Sheroes Hangout is the country's first café managed and run by acid attack survivors During the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of , according to Indian government ...

, the cafés in Agra and Lucknow were forced to close down. This impacted the foundation's work since the profits were used to fund the treatment and rehabilitation of attack survivors. Dixit then introduced Gift a Story, an internet retail platform which sells products such as candles and handicrafts made by survivors. In addition, café staff in Agra switched to supplying food to the city's poorest inhabitants, funded by donations. Sheroes Agra reopened in December 2021. Seven months later, two Sheroes kiosks were opened in

Awards and recognition

Michelle Obama presented the organisation with the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2014. Emma Macey Storch made the film ''Geeta'' about Geeta Mahor who was acid attacked by her husband, who also poured acid on his three daughters whilst they slept in 1992. Mahor later helped to found the Sheroes café in Agra. ''Chhapaak'' is a 2020 film about the life of acid attack survivors starring

Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...

. Padukone donated Rs 15

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

to help an attack survivor who had appeared in the film with life-saving kidney treatment. In recognition of its work, Chhanv received the

in 2017. As of 2022, it had helped over 100 survivors of acid attacks. The foundation announced in 2022 that it was fundraising Rs 1

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

for medical treatment.

References

{{Authority control Nari Shakti Puraskar winners Foundations based in India 2013 establishments in India

Foundation

Cafés

Awards and recognition

See also

References