Survivors to winners

Burn victims are no longer the challenges of modern medicine only. They have become challenges to civilized social and legal systems especially in the prevention and rehabilitation of victims. The Burns Unit of the Colombo National Hospital plays a unique role in this regard. The Unit which the only burns unit for the island receives number of referrals from all over. Causes of burns, according to the specialized medical professionals, vary : accidents, abuse, suicide, homicide etc. Modern and analytical approach reveals that there are number of misconceptions in reasoning burns. The general public both rural and urban attributes it chiefly to reasons such as domestic accidents caused by bottle lamps. Medical professionals specialized in burns think otherwise. Phenomenal percentage of woman victims, medical specialists believe, has been subject to domestic violence and abuse. Considerable number of them are survivors of suicide attempt as well - suicide, in most cases, as a way of getting out of abuse. Victims, however, are hesitant to reveal the truth due to socio-legal reasons. On the other hand misconceptions help continue the cycle of violence which at the end results in burn victims. It further obstructs the attempts of empowering women who are subjected to violence, to escape from it. The time has come to look into these issue in the medical-socio-legal context rather than doing it in isolation and more advocacy is needed for prevention.

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