Around eight years ago, when researching the screenplay for my short film “Shrouded”, I spoke to women who were victims of acid attacks, but had chosen to wear the Niqab to cover their scarred faces. The film brought to light the issue of gender terrorism, where acid is not used to kill women, but to torture, humiliate and cause life changing injuries.

Acid attacks happen across the world but impact women disproportionately, especially Asian women who are victims of domestic violence. When a woman does seek medical treatment, hospitals are not required to record the reasons for burns, so we don’t have reliable national statistics. What we do know is that NHS hospitals recorded 144 assaults in 2011/12 involving corrosive substances including petrol, bleach and kerosene. In 2013, the Telegraph reported a three-fold increase in acid attacks in six years. In September 2015, the Guardian reported that acid attack admissions had almost doubled over the previous ten years.

Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Show all 12 1 /12 Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 1.jpg Seventeen year old Neela is one of more than 2,700 victims of acid attacks in Bangladesh over the past 10 years. 'My husband was angry...because he claimed a dowry but my family couldn't provide one', she says. 'His plan was to sell me in Saudi Arabia - when I refused he threw acid on me and he fled.' Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 2.jpg Forced into marriage at 12 years old, Neela was just 14 when her husband attacked her. Today, she keeps a photo of herself before the acid attack on her dressing table. Despite major surgery to reconstruct her face, Neela’s left ear remains completely destroyed. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 3.jpg Neela’s husband is now in jail, the result of a year’s campaigning by local charities including ActionAid. But few perpetrators are punished. Of the 2,742 reported acid attack cases in the last 10 years, fewer than 450 have resulted in a conviction. Eyewitnesses remain too scared to testify and because of a lack of evidence the courts reject many cases. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 4.jpg Nurun Nahar works in women's rights at ActionAid Bangladesh. She is also an acid survivor, attacked when she was 15 because she rejected a local schoolboy’s advances. With help from ActionAid, she founded the Acid Survivors Network (ASN). Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 5.jpg The Acid Survivors' Network deals directly with around 45% of all the country's acid attack survivors, supporting victims and offering legal support. Where necessary, ASN will appoint lawyers who will work to stop a case being dismissed. ActionAid is also working to tighten the law to make it much harder for perpetrators to escape punishment. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 3.jpg Neela's husband is now in jail, the result of a year's campaigning by local charities including ActionAid. But few perpetrators are punished. Of the 2,742 reported acid attack cases in the last 10 years, fewer than 450 have resulted in a conviction. Eyewitnesses remain too scared to testify and because of a lack of evidence the courts reject many cases. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 7.jpg ASN has also been working with acid control committees to monitor the use and sale of acid. Bangladesh is one of the world's major exporters of textiles and even in remote regions the sulphuric acid used to produce colourful textile dyes is easy to get hold of. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 8.jpg Victims also suffer from psychological problems. So patients who are admitted to Dhaka Medical College, the only burns unit in the country, are offered long-term psychosocial support. A woman's face is seen as sacred. To permanently scar it brings dishonour to the family and functions as a public mark of shame. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 9.jpg Salina was also an acid attack victim. Acid attacks are a form of violent assault, often linked to 'honour' in parts of Asia. Poor women are usually the victims of these domestic attacks perpetrated as revenge for refusal of marriage, sexual advances, dowry payment or land disputes. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 10.jpg ASN member Swapna Sen and Neela in their home town of Sirajganj. Neela is one of 260 members ASN has helped. 'When ASN first came to visit me...they also came to visit my parents and gave them support. I didn’t receive much help form the police and prosecutor, only the NGOs,' says Neela. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 11.jpg A vital part of ASN's work is helping the women earn their own living - in places like beauty parlours. 'Earlier, the survivors wouldn't leave their homes. Now they are coming out. Through motivation workshops we have achieved this and they can speak for themselves,' says Nahar. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 12.jpg 'Since being part of the network I have made friends, so I feel like I have many people beside me - this is the way I got my strength and mental peace,' says Neela. She is now at college and works part time as a district convenor for ASN. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid

Many of us have followed Katie Piper’s story and may also be familiar with 24-year-old Adele Bellis, who was doused by an attacker hired by her ex-boyfriend. Other women do not speak out, because they live in fear of reprisals from partners, extended families and hired attackers. Since 2010, there has been an increase in refuges closing and a cap on benefits, so many victims of domestic violence and persecution have lost their escape routes.

However, the media has only really become fascinated by acid attacks since it became the weapon of choice on the streets and the targets became more random. Now we are all potential victims, regardless of gender or ethnicity. But in the past the media did very little to confront the level of premeditated assaults in domestic situations, specifically aimed at disfiguring a woman. Masuma Rahim, a London-based clinical psychologist, has suggested that because only 0.4 per cent of British journalists are Muslim: “There aren’t enough of us in journalism to tell our own stories in a way that does them justice.”

Previously, the attacks that were reported were generally the result of jealous ex-boyfriends, and whilst anyone with a possessive ex might be mildly concerned, the haphazardness of many of the recent attacks has created an undercurrent of fear amongst the general population. One can also assume that because not all the victims are women and/or Asian, and the crimes not all “hate” related, that the media is taking more interest.

According to ASTI (Acid Survivors Trust International), the UK has one of the highest rates of recorded acid attacks in the world. Most worryingly, it reports that of the 2078 acid-attack crimes that were recorded between 2011 and 2016, only 414 of those resulted in charges being brought.

It has been argued – mainly on social media and in blogs – that religious and ethnic minorities are to blame for importing cultures that are tolerant of attacks and that the use of acid is somehow an “Eastern” phenomenon. Jaf Shah, Executive Director of ASTI, disputes this analysis saying that acid attacks have occurred in the UK for 200 years.

Belatedly, the Government is now responding to pressure from acid attack survivors and campaigners to impose tougher laws against perpetrators and stricter measures for the purchase of corrosive substances. For instance, acid victim Resham Khan started a Change.org petition seeking a prohibition on the purchase of acid to those without a licence. The petition is currently approaching 470,000 signatures.

Delivery riders join acid attack protest in Parliament Square

The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary say the Government is working with the police to see what more they could do and on Friday the CPS announced plans to bring more severe charges against people who have thrown acid intending to cause harm. This is all to the good – and is a testament to the strength of victims, their families, communities and ordinary people who have called for such changes, not just politicians.

As for the media, it has a moral duty to widen its focus on to the abuse and attacks that occur out of the public eye, in order to encourage victims to come forward – not only to identify and convict the perpetrators, but to protect those who have been affected from further abuse. Most importantly, we need to talk about long-lasting support for acid-attack victims. While for the media an acid attack means just another news story, for those on the receiving end it means permanent, physical and lifelong emotional scars. We must not ignore their suffering.