Acid attacks increase by 69% in a year in England and Wales, charity warns
Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) said the attacks, which cause instant and excruciating pain and can leave victims with life-changing disabilities, had been declining following a peak in 2017, but cases spiked last year.
Thursday 19 October 2023 14:31, UK
Acid attacks increased by 69% in a year, with female victims exceeding the number of male victims for the first time, a charity has said.
Data from police forces across England and Wales showed there were 710 acid attacks recorded last year, compared with 421 in 2021, according to Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI).
The charity warned the real figure is likely to be "far higher" as a number of "key police forces", including Police Scotland and Thames Valley Police, did not respond to its Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for the data.
It said the attacks, which cause instant and excruciating pain and can leave victims with life-changing disabilities, had been declining following a peak in 2017.
That year saw 941 recorded cases, dropping in 2021 - which the charity said was partly due to the Offensive Weapons Act and the introduction of stricter controls on the availability of acid and other corrosive substances.
But cases spiked last year and of those 710 attacks, 339 targeted women and 317 targeted men, with the gender of the victim unknown in 48 cases. Of the 2021 attacks, 172 were against women and 227 on men.
The highest number of attacks was recorded in Northumbria (183), followed by London (163) and Merseyside (116).
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The charity said a single acid attack costs £63,000 in terms of the medical and psychosocial report victims require, in addition to costs to the police, the judicial and penal systems.
It said the economic cost of all the attacks in 2022 was over £44m and over the six years ASTI has recorded data the total cost was almost a quarter of a billion pounds.
"The UK has the highest number of recorded attacks in the world, and the need for prevention is greater than ever," said Jaf Shah, executive director at ASTI.
"We know that the best way to end acid violence is to prevent it from happening in the first place, by addressing its root causes."
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Acid attacks 'devastate lives'
ASTI has launched a prevention initiative to educate young people on the risks and consequences of acid attacks, along with a digital graphic novel, which tells three stories centred around acid attacks and largely focuses on perpetrators.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alexis Boon QPM, NPCC lead for corrosive substances, said: "The use of corrosive substances to commit crime devastates lives, often inflicting serious injuries and causing psychological trauma to survivors that will last a lifetime.
"Through education, we need to make sure people understand the appalling consequences of such crimes, to those subject to such attacks, their families, and the perpetrator themselves, in order to prevent these crimes happening in the first place."
Responding to the report, a spokesperson for the Home Office said: "Attacks on people involving acids or other corrosives can result in huge distress and life-changing injuries and we are clear there is no place in society for these sickening attacks.
"The government has strengthened the law on corrosives through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 including prohibiting the sale and delivery of corrosive products to under-18s and making it an offence to possess corrosive substances in a public place.
"We are also working closely with partners to tackle the use of acids and other corrosives in violent attacks including with the police on the enforcement response to prevent and deter attacks and also with retailers to restrict access to acids and other harmful corrosive products."