Burns Unit of National Hospital Colombo is a dedicated facility to treat burn victims and receives patient referrals from across the country. At one point it needed photo documentation to support their awareness and fundraising exercise for the rehabilitation therapy unit. I volunteered to do the task.
Around 400 severe burn victims present annually to the National Hospital Burns Unit and approximately 85% of them are women. Of them over 70 percent are the result of acts of...
more »Burns Unit of National Hospital Colombo is a dedicated facility to treat burn victims and receives patient referrals from across the country. At one point it needed photo documentation to support their awareness and fundraising exercise for the rehabilitation therapy unit. I volunteered to do the task.
Around 400 severe burn victims present annually to the National Hospital Burns Unit and approximately 85% of them are women. Of them over 70 percent are the result of acts of self immolations. Of the rest, only a few are accidental burns while the others are victims of homicidal burns.
Suicidal or homicidal burns are directly linked to emotional upheavals played out in male dominated and socio-economically handicapped house holds. Almost all homicidal burns are perpetrated by men. Social oppression, domestic violence, physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, all echo behind the burn victims/survivors.
Victims, however, are hesitant to reveal the truth due to socio-legal reasons. Helping the survivors to win back their lives is a herculean task. It is not only a medical challenge. Women, in most cases, have no choice but go back to the same environment where they were subjected to abuse or sometimes are forced to live with the very perpetrator. The impact of social rejection inflicted upon them is enormous as well. They would suffer in silence for many years - perhaps for the entirety of their life.
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