Make Love Not Scars is an Indian nonprofit organisation based in New Delhi.[1] The organisation works with acid-attack survivors and was founded by Ria Sharma. Tania Singh is the C.E.O of Make Love Not Scars.[2] It assists with the complete rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, including providing survivors with financial, legal and educational help.[3] As of November 6, 2016, the organisation had helped approximately 70 survivors across India.[4] The NGO has recently been under scanner for collecting funds and not forwarding them to the victims.[5]
Ria Sharma founded Make Love Not Scars in 2014 while she was a fashion student at Leeds College of Art. As a part of her final year project, she set out to film a documentary on acid attack survivors in India.[6] However, after witnessing the appalling conditions of acid attack survivors in India, she decided to start an organisation instead. She told Isis Madrid of Public Radio International:
"While I was shooting the documentary, I found myself in a government hospital burn ward.The things I saw in the ward left me forever changed. I had never witnessed so much misery all at once, I had never been surrounded by so much pain. When you are in that situation you have two options, you could either return to the comfort of your own life or you could try and make someone else’s life comfortable."[7]
The founder was also featured on Mithaq Kazimi's show Konversations in which she explored the need for social activism to be relatable to young people so they could help with various social ills.
Make Love Not Scars launched India's first rehabilitation centre in New Delhi in March 2016. A first of a kind centre, the centre provides acid attack survivors with medical treatment, financial aid, legal support, vocational training and psychological treatment. The centre also helps survivors overcome their emotional struggles through recreational activities like Yoga and poetry classes.[8]
The centre is host to various classes including English and computer classes. Workshops consist of activities such as confidence building, makeup tutorials and legal expertise.[9]
The centre also contains accommodation for survivors who are seeking refuge from perpetrators of their attack. The centre is partly funded by community donations and largely funded by corporate funders.[10] Automotive giant Magneti Marelli donated approximately 31,000 USD for operational costs for the rehabilitation centre in the year 2016. Other corporate donors include Urban Clap and Urban Ladder.[9]
The NGO has been under scanner for alleged misuse of funds collected for acid attack survivors. Mid-day, a newspaper in India had revealed how the NGO had collected donations under the pretext of helping the victims, but kept all or most of the money. After the report, the organisation pledged to give the victims their money.[11] The Mumbai Police have finally booked the founder, Ria Sharma. Ria maintained her innocence through all statements given to Mid-day and after further investigation by online media agency, The Logical Indian, it was found that the newspapers facts didn't add up.[12] Ria finally released a statement on her official Facebook handle with evidence of the newspapers unfactual reporting. Her post received tremendous online support which led to Mid-day wanting to mediate.[13] Ria's side of the story was then published by DNA newspaper shedding further light on Mid-days reporting[14] In June 2018, the Mumbai police filed a closure report in Ria's case and exonerated her of all charges. The closure report further confirmed that she was falsely implicated and it is yet to be determined if Sharma will press charges of her own.[5]
On August 30, 2015, Make Love Not Scars released a series of beauty tutorials calling for a complete ban on over-the-counter sale of acid. The campaign #EndAcidSale was created in collaboration with the creative agency Ogilvy and Mather. The face of the campaign is acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi and she is seen giving beauty tips through a series of tutorials on applying eyeliner, lipstick and how to get rid of dark spots.[15]
The videos created for #EndAcidSale guided viewers towards a petition addressed to the Government of India, demanding a complete ban on toilet-cleaning acid and a stronger implementation of Poisons Act and Poisons Rules. The videos, titled "Beauty Tips by Reshma" went viral and have received over 2 million views till date and the petition garnered over 225,000 signatures within the first two weeks itself.[15] On December 8, 2015, the Supreme Court of India directed Indian states to enforce the ban on over-the-counter sale of acid.[16]
The campaign #EndAcidSale went viral and was covered extensively in Indian and international news. The success of the campaign was featured on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC World, Mail Online, ABC News, Time (magazine), Mashable, Daily Mirror, People (magazine), The Independent, The Huffington Post and by influenciars, politicians and celebrities such Amitabh Bachchan and Ashton Kutcher.[17]
The campaign #EndAcidSale was awarded multiple awards for marketing. These include: