Unconscious bias

“”If she can’t be mine, she can’t be anyone else’s.” This statement has an inherent gender biasness where women are treated as an object and is one of the primary reasons why acid attacks are so prevalent in our country. When I made the decision of pursuing this sensitive matter as my PhD topic, most people around me were very demotivating. They suggested I shouldn’t be working on such a heinous crime that people hardly talk about or are aware of, and rather choose something easier. But I personally felt close to the acid-attack survivors and genuinely wanted to speak for them, bring forth their horror stories and in my way, try to make a change.

My parents, especially my father, were very supportive and were of the opinion that education was very important. I was born and brought up in a village in Punjab, the third girl child after two elder sisters and one elder brother. My father didn’t want us to be stuck in the village which could have hindered our personal and professional growth. Hence, we were put in hostels very early on in life. We went to an English medium school, the first in the city. In high school, while strolling across the garden near my hostel, I would often come across a lawyer couple whose conversations on laws used to interest me a lot. I was attracted to their black coats. Once, they came up to me thinking I was just intentionally eavesdropping and asked what I was upto. I told them I was…