#SaveSheroes: A fight for survival for a cafe run by acid-attack victims

The survivors earn about Rs 12,000 a month and live in a women's hostel. Sheroes has, through them, become a symbol of resilience

Last month, when the #MeToo movement spearheaded by women recounting accounts of sexual harassment at workplaces was yet to gain momentum in India, another women-centric movement, #SaveSheroes, was at its peak.

The movement was launched to save the Sheroes Hangout café, a Lucknow-based eatery run by women survivors of acid attacks. The Uttar Pradesh Mahila Kalyan Nigam had served an eviction notice on the café after its two-year lease had expired in March this year.

The Chhanv Foundation, which operates the café, was also charged with fudging accounts. The NGO refuted the allegations and challenged the eviction notice in the Allahabad High Court, which gave it three weeks (till October 22) to move out of the government-owned property. Subsequently, Chhanv moved the Supreme Court and on October 10, a division bench of Justices 

R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee directed the high court to decide the petition challenging the eviction notice within nine months, thus giving the café temporary relief.

Since it was opened, the eatery situated in the tony Gomti Nagar area overlooking a Taj group hotel, the office of the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation and the grandiose Ambedkar Memorial Park has become a popular hangout for both the young and the elderly. The community hub, which opened with the aim to empower acid attack survivors and ensure a life of dignity for them, is called Sheroes for “She Heroes”.

As the #SaveSheroes movement gathered steam, politicians, actors and activists all joined in. About 45,000 people signed an online petition in support of the café. Actor-politician Raj Babbar, actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Swara Bhasker and Divya Dutta, and Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal were among those who either visited the café or turned to social media to root for it.

Currently, 12 acid attack fighters are employed at the café. The similar café run by Chhanv in Agra,  which has been operational since December 2014, supports nine acid attack survivors. The youngest at the Lucknow café, 19-year-old Anshu Rajput, was studying in Class X in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, when a man whose advances she had rebuffed threw acid on her in 2014. Chhanv, which took up her cause, asked Rajput if she would want to work at Sheroes, an offer she accepted. Her assailant is currently behind bars.

Reshma, 35, who has shared only her first name, is the oldest among the survivors. She was attacked in 2012 in her hometown, Kanpur.

The survivors earn about Rs 12,000 a month and live in a women’s hostel in Lucknow. Sheroes has, through them, become a symbol of resilience. In its short journey, it has hosted celebrities, including actors Sanjay Dutt and Rajkummar Rao, and Romanian model Iulia Vantur. It has been featured in a number of films including Dutt-starrer Bhoomi and has been the subject of documentaries on women’s rights. The café can host 100 people at a time and offers a variety of vegetarian fare, including shakes, snacks and desserts. Online restaurant search and delivery platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato and Uber Eats, too, feature it.

Chhanv Foundation Director Ashish Shukla says, “We want the state government to help resolve the matter amicably, since it pertains to the well-being of acid attack survivors.”

According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, every year about 250 acid attack cases are reported in India. A majority of incidents are reported from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Shukla urges people to support the cause beyond social media and an occasional tweet. While he acknowledges the overwhelming support the cause has received on social media platforms, he feels it would not change much on the ground if concerted effort is missing.