ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Tanzim is 16 years old and from Bhola near Barisal in Southern Bangladesh. Tanzim is a good student in school, and she was preparing for her annual exam. Not long ago, a man wanted an affair with Tanzim, but she was not interested. The man got jealous, because Tanzim had given her school papers to male family relative, who brought her exam registration papers to the school.

The man was hiding for 2-3 days behind Tanzim's house, and in the night he came to the room where Tanzim and her younger sister, Marzia, were sleeping. While they were sleeping, he poured five litre of strong corrosive acid over Tanzim and Marzia. He got the acid from his fathers garage in North Dugodhi village. 80 percent of Tanzim's body is burned with very serious and deep scars and Marzia, who is 6 years old, is also severely affected. During the last month, both girls have undergone operations.

The image shows Tanzim getting her fluid food through a tube. The image is taken at the Acid Survivors Foundation Hospital in Dhaka on 2nd July 2018. A few days later, Tanzim is transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of the City Hospital in Dhaka for blood transfers and life saving treatment, where she right now is fighting for her life. In time of writing, Tanzim is in critical condition.

Acid is freely available in Bangladesh, and the police and justice systems are corrupted making it difficult to ensure justice for Tanzim and many other acid survivors in Bangladesh.

AUTHOR
Jan Møller Hansen (b. 1964) is a self-taught photographer, who works with visual story telling and social documentary. He has undertaken documentary photography work in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Sudan, where he lived and worked as a senior diplomat, and development/humanitarian aid specialist.

Jan Møller Hansen has won first and second prices for his documentary and photojournalistic work in the International Photographer Awards, La Grande Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, Monochrome Photography Awards, Neutral Density Photography Awards, Monovisions and other competitions. In 2015, he published the book ”Images of Nepal”, Jagadamba Press, and was recognised as the IPA People Photographer of the Year 2015. His work has been published in photography magazines, newspapers and other media in the UK, US, Spain, Denmark, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries and has been exhibited in Nepal, India, Denmark and Sweden. His visual stories and documentary photography work focus on the lives and conditions of poor, marginalised and stigmatised people, living with conflict, displacement, insecurity, injustice, inequality and corruption. All his photography projects share a profound interest in human rights, dignity and the belief that everyone has the right to be recognised as a human being, regardless of social background, family relations, or living conditions.

Jan Møller Hansen has worked in Nepal (1991-1995, 2013-2016), Vietnam (2000-2004), Bangladesh (2007-2012) and South Sudan (2017-2018) and has been on numerous short-term missions for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, UNHCR, MS ActionAid, CARE Nepal and Danish Church Aid in Asia and Africa.

back to gallery