The price of diversity.
REPORT: Fewer than half of acid attack victims pursue criminal charges against their attackers, researchers have found. The study, also revealed that, contrary to the common perception of acid attacks, the majority of victims were white men.
Researchers from the St. Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, one of the UK’s leading burns units, examined data from 21 cases involving victims of acid attacks dating back over the last fifteen years, publishing the results in the journal Scars, Burns & Healing. They found that only nine of these cases (43 percent) were criminally investigated, while the remainder had no police involvement.
They also found that victims were mostly young men assaulted by male perpetrators, making the UK something of an anomaly – globally, 80 percent of victims of acid attacks are women. Only a third of the victims knew their attackers.
Although the researchers don’t believe any new legislation is warranted, noting that “sentencing powers reflect the severity of the crime,” they have argued in favour of more training for medical staff to support victims and encourage them to approach the police for help.
“As the first point of contact in a protected environment such as in hospital, this may be the only opportunity to provide these patients with a setting in which they may feel ‘safe’ enough to accept help,” the authors said.
Professor Shokrollahi, Consultant Burns & Plastic Surgeon and Editor-in-Chief of Scars, Burns & Healing further commented:
“This is a very important paper as there has been very little data and information regarding these types of assaults in the United Kingdom.
“Whilst there is no evidence of an epidemic, and of the 250,000 burns per annum in the UK these injuries account for less than 1 percent, it is still an alarming problem that we need to address – 21 cases in one burns service is 21 too many.
“There is a clear need to limit access to corrosive substances in a strategic way, but work needs to be done to ensure limiting access to one substance does not simply result in a shift to a different, more accessible substance.”
The research was supported by the Katie Piper Foundation, launched by the former TV presenter and model who was left severely facially disfigured by a sulphuric acid attack planned by her ex-boyfriend.
