Seaton acid attack victim speaks out against prejudice

“There are no ugly people - just ugly attitudes,” says Beverly Hammett

A SEATON woman, terribly scarred in an acid attack, has spoken out ahead of a new TV series highlighting beauty and disfigurement.

“It’s not the face that’s ugly, it’s the prejudice” says Beverly Hammett, 33.

She was talking before the launch of Channel 4’s series “Beauty and the Beast: The Ugly Face of Prejudice”.

She said: “People tend to act like they should feel sorry for me, like I somehow live a poorer existence than a ‘pretty’ woman”

“If anyone has a problem with the way I look, it’s their problem, not mine”

Beverley, spokesperson for Changing Faces, the UK’s leading disfigurement charity, was 18 when she had concentrated nitric acid thrown in her face by a “hit man” who mistook her for someone else.

Se underwent many operations and her bravery was recognized with an invite to Buckingham Palace and the title Westcountry TV’s woman of the year.

Beverley added: “Some people think that if I keep having surgery I will look ‘normal’ again.

“Even if I did want to look ‘normal’, it simply isn’t possible for surgery to achieve that much.

“Mainly, society needs to change its attitudes – the first step is that everyone needs to be more aware of the prejudice that is perpetuated in our culture - scars and ‘baddies’ usually go hand in hand in films and books. Beauty is portrayed in advertising as the ticket to happiness which suggests that having an unusual or noticeably-different face is undesirable.

“I’ve long believed that there are no ugly people. Just ugly attitudes.”