Change.org Petition: Stop acid attacks - Demand the Government of Uganda pass a law against acid attacks

Content warning: The following contains reference to physical violence. Linneti’s boyfriend attacked her with acid after she rejected his marriage proposal. She almost lost her life and had to spend a year in the hospital recovering. But her boyfriend was never charged. Linneti is now fighting to protect others in her home country of Uganda, where acid costs as little as one US dollar. Add your name to Linneti’s petition to make it harder to buy acid and make the punishment for acid attacks more severe. Demand the Government of Uganda pass a law against acid attacks. 6,917 have signed RISE Coalition’s petition. Let’s get to 7,500!

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My name is Linneti Kirungi and I am an acid attack survivor.  Those scars you see on my face and neck, my missing ear, they are because my ex-boyfriend attacked me with acid after I rejected his marriage proposal.  I almost lost my life and spent a year in the hospital.  What’s worse is that my ex-boyfriend was never held legally accountable in any way.  Now I’m fighting to make sure this does not happen to other innocent people.  We know from legal initiatives in other countries that the best way to reduce the frequency of acid violence is to enforce tough laws on the sale of acid and punishment for perpetrators.  That’s why I am urging you to sign this petition demanding the Ugandan government pass a law against acid attacks. What would the law address?   It would regulate the sale of acid.  You see, acid is readily available in the market in Uganda.  When you move to the streets in Kampala, the way they sell tomatoes, the same way they sell acid.  If I want to buy acid, they will not ask me anything, for my license, for what industrial use I am purchasing it.  It makes it a very easy weapon to get.   It is also inexpensive.  In most cases, a liter of acid costs 3000 Ugandan Shillings, roughly one US dollar.  With one liter, you can make someone very deformed, end someone’s life.  In 2016, the government passed the Toxic Chemicals and Prohibition Bill into law.  It was a good start but it was too general in nature.  It brought all the other chemicals in one basket.  We need the law to specify who can purchase acid and for what industrial purposes. It would enforce stricter punishments for perpetrators. As it is written into law now, someone convicted of an acid attack can be sentenced for up to seven years in prison.  Not only is seven years an outrageously meager sentence for an act of attempted murder, but perpetrators are rarely charged.  Of the over 200 acid attack survivors with whom I have worked in Uganda, only 20 percent of their perpetrators were charged or had any legal consequence for perpetrating the attack. Please click here to learn more about acid attacks in Uganda and why this law is needed.

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