'Resilience is in all of us' – Katie Piper on how surviving an acid attack has shaped her

Katie Piper was just 24 years old when a man was paid to throw acid in her face on a North London street in 2008.

He'd been hired by another man whom Piper had rejected in the early stages of dating: "His response to that rejection was to sexually assault me, to rape me, to imprison me in a room, and then two days later to hire a hitman to throw sulfuric acid into my face."

As shocking as her story is, Piper told the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos this year, it's "not a story of misery."

"My story is one of survival and hope".

Acid attacks are rising in the UK. Data released last year showed a rise in corrosive substance attacks, with 498 physical incidents recorded in 2024, up from 454 in 2023.

Piper, who is known around the world as an advocate and author, told the audience she wanted to use the Annual Meeting as a platform to demonstrate the power of resilience.

“Stories of adversity, trauma, resilience are essential when we’re focusing on global progress,” she told Davos. “Often when we think about leadership, we think of policy, we think finance, but actually what my story illustrates is that empathy and kindness and diversity are as critical in leadership as finance and policy.”

Trauma happens to all of us, to varying degrees, Piper explained, but "it needn’t be a life sentence". It’s not what happens to you in life that will go on to define you, she said, “It’s what you choose to do afterwards."

Piper says she later realized she’d "been given a gift" on the day of her attack – a perspective on the human spirit that is rare for someone so young, shaped by exploring what it means to face death through the experiences of those with terminal illness.

“It’s not the gift of not dying, it’s the gift to be able to go into the future and come back and live differently and live intentionally,” she explained. “It built a character into me that I don’t know I would ever have tapped into.”

Since the attack, Piper has told her story all around the world, drawn out of a desire to "open up a more honest conversation around recovery". In particular, she believes her message resonates with women in general, not just those who have been subjected to acid attacks.

Nearly one in three women worldwide has been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence, according to the World Health Organization, while data from UN Women reveals that three in five murders of women globally are committed by intimate partners or family members.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report also includes the prevalence of gender violence in a lifetime as an indicator within its wider health and survival indicator.

After her 2009 documentary, 'Katie, My Beautiful Face', was released, Piper discovered she’d created a community of women who had suffered trauma, such as gender-based violence.

“All of a sudden, there was this mutual understanding, and I realized, actually, this happens to all of us,” she told Davos.

Through her foundation, now in its fifteenth year, Piper also provides specific support for burn survivors. She gives significant credit to the UK's National Health Service for its acute, life-saving care, but stresses that life-long care is needed.

After her attack, “people would leave the lift because they would think I was contagious”, she said, explaining why long-term emotional and physical support is vital.

Her foundation supports men and women who’ve suffered burns, for example many male survivors are injured while at work on oil rigs or as electricians. “The thing about burns is that it’s not a sort of treatment and you’re patched up and on your way. It’s forever,” she said.

The survivors of the Crans-Montana fire in Switzerland on 1 January 2026 will need this support as well, she added at Davos. Talking about a social media message she released after the fire, she explained, “I wanted to give this universal message to those survivors and their family that this isn’t the end.”

(The quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)

Watch the full session: 'Scars of Survival: How I Rebuilt My Life'