Acid Attack Victims Pose for a Calendar, Show Off Their Beauty to the World

Simply beautiful. A new calendar is showcasing acid attack survivors and putting them in a different light—hoping to redefine what we see as beauty.

Created as part of the Stop Acid Attacks campaign by the Chhanv Foundation in India, the funds from the sales will help the rehabilitation of Indian survivors.

Pascal Mannaerts

"In a society as insensitive as ours, it doesn't take much for the acid attack victims to lose their self-confidence," the calendar's website states. "Apathy of the attackers give birth to the acid attack. The apathy of relatives, 'friends' and neighbors generates burns everyday. The calendar shoot aids the society to broaden the interpretation of beauty."

Women are often the target of acid attacks. In fact, it's believed that around 80 percent of victims are women and girls. There are roughly 1,500 documented attacks each year, with the majority of them occurring in India. Women are often targeted for refusing sexual advances.

"They are fighters," Rahul Saharan, one of the two photographers (along with Pascal Mannaerts), told the Huffington Post. "It's up to us—we make them victims or we make them fighters."

You can see more images below. Learn more about the calendar (and buy one) by visiting paltan.in/calendar.

Rahul Saharan

Rahul Saharan

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