Sheroes Hangout, founded in Agra in December 2014, is the first café in India run by acid attack survivors.

Many girls have been attacked when they were teenagers, by relatives because of a family argument, by men whose marriage proposals were rejected, and other reasons. Being a woman in India can be difficult, and even more after such a trauma. Thanks to Sheroes Hangout, they are now able to be independent and make their dreams come true.

The story of these pictures is a personal journey. I went to India doing some research about grassroots charities (I’m a sociology student) and a friend of mine told me about Sheroes Hangout. There is a natural process of the human mind: it gets puzzled when it cannot recognize a face but I wanted to challenge that. I learned Hindi four months before my travel and went specially to Agra for meeting them.

At the first conversation I had with Ritu, I was struggling with my Hindi. She was finishing all my sentences as she knew what I was trying to say and immediately, there was just a heart to heart connection and I just felt I was talking to one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. The images are the result of a relation of friendship I have cultivated during weeks with the girls. My aim was to express this connection in pictures for people to see beyond the scars.

Sheroes Hangout does not receive any funds from the government and all their activities are crowdfunded. If you go see the Taj Mahal, please remember to have a meal with them!

More info: sheroeshangout.com

Being a woman in India can be difficult

Many girls have been attacked with acid when they were teenagers

By relatives because of a family argument, by men whose marriage proposals were rejected, and other reasons

Sheroes Hangout, founded in Agra in December 2014, is the first café in India run by acid attack survivors

The story of these pictures is a personal journey

I went to India doing some research about grassroots charities and a friend of mine told me about Sheroes Hangout

Human mind gets puzzled when it cannot recognize a face but I wanted to challenge that

I learned Hindi four months before my travel and went specially to Agra for meeting them

At the first conversation I had with Ritu, I was struggling with my Hindi

But there was just a heart to heart connection and I just felt I was talking to one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met

The images are the result of a relation of friendship I have cultivated during those weeks with the girls. My aim was to express this connection in pictures for people to see beyond the scars

Thanks to Sheroes Hangout, they are now able to be independent and make their dreams come true

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