Make Love Not Scars
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| Formation | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ria Sharma |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Legal status | Active |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
Region served | India |
| Fields | Rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, legal aid, education, empowerment |
CEO | Tania Singh |
| Awards | Warc Asian Strategy Prize (Gold, 2016); Innovative Channel Thinking Award (2016) |
| Website | makelovenotscars.org |
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 rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, including providing financial, legal and educational help.[3] As of 6 November 2016, the organisation had helped approximately 70 survivors across India.[4][needs update] In 2017 the organisation faced allegations of misuse of funds and not forwarding them to the victims.[5] The following year, the Mumbai police filed a closure report in the case and exonerated Sharma of all charges.
Ria Sharma founded Make Love Not Scars in 2014 while she was a fashion student at Leeds College of Art in the United Kingdom. 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.[citation needed]
Rehabilitation centre
Make Love Not Scars launched India's first rehabilitation centre in New Delhi in March 2016. A first of a kind centre, it 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 such as Yoga and poetry classes.[8]
The centre hosts 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]