Per capita, the UK has one of the highest rates of recorded acid attacks in the world, and London has been described as the acid attack hotspot of the Western world. According to Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), the UK saw 452 reported acid attacks in 2017, increasing to 501 reported attacks in 2018. The number of violent offences in London involving acid or other corrosive liquid stood at 66 in 2012 but rose to 752 in 2019, according to Metropolitan Police statistics. ASTI report that of the 2078 acid attack crimes recorded in the UK during the period 2011-2016, only 414 of those resulted in charges being brought. More recent data from the Met Police found four out of five attacks never reach trial. Research suggests that many of the attacks are part of gang related activities and that acid is becoming the weapon of choice. Men tend to be the perpetrators and women are very often the victims of these attacks. Acid attacks can be used in robberies, burglaries, revenge attacks, during thefts of mopeds or to intimidate witnesses, in domestic violence, and due to religious or racial hatred.

The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 is the first piece of UK legislation to refer to corrosive substances in a criminal context and has made it an offence to possess a corrosive substance in a public place and to sell certain harmful corrosive products to under 18s. Following on from the 2017 expansion of stop and search powers more generally, in 2019 the then Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, provided the police with further stop and search powers to help them target those using corrosive materials illegally.

Speaking about the 2019 Act, Jabed Hussain, who had acid sprayed in his face by robbers trying to steal his bike in Hackney in 2017, said: “More needs to be done. The legislation is feeble and the criminals are smarter than the law.” Dr Simon Harding, associate professor in Criminology at the University of West London, has said that criminals had turned to acid because it is cheap, easily available and instils fear in both rivals and the public. ASTI have pointed out that many of the countries where acid violence occurs possess high levels of violence against women and that education is critical to combatting acid attacks. Writing in a March 2021 research paper, Matt Hopkins et al argue that preventative interventions could be developed, including controlling the availability of corrosive substances, developing legislation to deter potential offenders from possession and use, focusing on interventions that reduce the receptiveness of individuals to the idea of carrying and using corrosives, and working with communities where carrying and use is prevalent.

This symposium therefore offers police officers, community wardens, acid attack support groups and local authority members the opportunity to evaluate the impact of the Offensive Weapons Act on tackling acid attacks, assess how the legislation can be strengthened and conviction rates increased, develop ideas to support victims, and share best practice in preventing this cruel form of violence.

Programme

Examine the Offensive Weapons Act, its impact in tackling acid attacks and the case for strengthening the legislation
Establish an understanding of the motive behind acid attacks and how they relate to other serious crimes including gang violence and honour based violence
Analyse the best approaches for police to take when tackling acid attacks in local areas
Assess how to reduce access to acid and other corrosive substances
Examine why convictions for acid attacks are so low and how to increase convictions rates
Discover approaches to best supporting those whose life has been affected by acid attacks
Uncover the causes for the significant growth in acid attacks since the early 2010s
Understand the impact of ‘stop and search’ policies and how to utilise them effectively
Learn how retailers can help in the reduction of the sale of corrosive materials to dangerous individuals
Assess the criminal, policing, societal and cultural developments that have contributed to the rise in acid attacks over the last decade
Discuss preventative measures including, police officers carrying acid testing kits

To register for the briefing, please click here.

Public Policy Exchange

Registered Office: 253 Grays Inn Road, London, WC1X 8QT

Asia Webinars Serie on Supporting Parents and Caregivers

Date: Thursday, November 24, 2022
Time: 19:00 (AEDT) | 16:00 (Manila) | 13:30 (IST)
Duration: 120 minutes
Language: English

Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Time: 18:00 (AEDT) | 15:00 (Manila) | 12:30 (IST)
Duration: 180 minutes
Language: English

The Global Initiative to Support Parents, comprised of World Health Organization, UNICEF, Parenting for Lifelong Health, the Early Childhood Development Action Network, the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, with support from USAID is cordially inviting you to attend two convenings on Supporting Parents and Caregivers. The objectives are to convene participants from the 48 countries in the Asian region, to:

Present the rationale for parenting support as a key approach to improve the wellbeing of children
Develop a common understanding of evidence-based interventions and delivery models
Examine regional work in progress and gaps in interventions
Examine the role of different sectors, namely, health, education and child protection
Promote learning and sharing among countries to enhance support for parents and caregivers
Increase visibility on the need to act and generate widespread commitment for action and
Identify potential next steps countries can take to strengthen parenting/caregiver support

Register for the Webinar Today!

Webinar: What works to prevent online violence against children?

Friday 2 December 2022, 15:00 – 16:00 CET

Join the WHO for the launch of a new report
What works to prevent online
violence against children?
Friday 2 December 2022, 15:00 – 16:00 CET

Please register in advance for the Webinar.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email
containing information about joining the webinar.
Partners in the report’s production include researchers
from the Crimes against Children Research Center at
the University of New Hampshire, USA and Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

Last call to register for the CEP Workshop on gender-based violence in probation

that will take place on 13 and 14 December at the Center for Legal Studies in Barcelona, Catalonia – Spain.
In this workshop CEP will open up the topic of gender-based violence in probation to address gender inequality, especially towards women and girls, focusing on sexual abuse and domestic violence. The workshop will cover the topic from the perspective of probation and other criminal justice professionals including offenders and victims. With this workshop, we will discuss the effective and efficient ways of working with offenders, which programmes and technologies are used to prevent gender-based violence, support treatment process, among others. A World Café session will bring together smaller groups of participants to discuss and share knowledge and experience from their jurisdictions and thus support mutual learning as one of the core skills necessary for further professional development of themselves and their organisations.

Programme

The programme can be downloaded here.

Registration and fees

Click here to register

For CEP members, the participation fee is 25 EUR.
For Non-CEP members, the participation fee is 50 EUR.

The registration deadline is 30 November 2022.

Venue

Centre for Legal Studies and Specialized Training
C/ de Pau Claris, 158, 08009 Barcelona

Registration ››

European Crime Prevention Award 2022

This year, the theme of the European Crime Prevention Award (ECPA) and Best Practice Conference (BPC) is working with a particularly vulnerable crime victim. The aim is to exchange experiences and good practices; most importantly in the areas of early identification of victims, prevention of secondary victimisation/re-victimisation and how to increase motivation to report crimes and thus to reduce the latency of crime. The winners of the #ECPA2022 will be announced on 9 December in Prague.

AIC: New study examines link between data breaches and cybercrime

The Australian Institute of Criminology’s Serious and Organised Crime Research Laboratory has released a new Statistical Bulletin on the relationship between data breaches and other forms of cybercrime victimisation.

Almost one in 10 respondents to a survey of 15,000 Australian computer users conducted in June 2021 said they were notified their information was exposed in a data breach in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Compared with respondents who had not been notified of a data breach, respondents notified of a data breach were 34 percent more likely to have been a victim of identity crime, 17 percent more likely to have been a victim of an online scam or fraud and 80 percent more likely to have also received a ransom message on their device.
The most common signs of being a victim of identity theft were being told by a bank their identity had been stolen or account was misused, finding unauthorised activity on their credit card, getting calls about unpaid bills, finding suspicious transactions on their bank statement, being unable to apply for credit, and missing or strange bills. These were all more likely to happen to respondents who had been notified their information was exposed in a data breach.

The findings demonstrate that measures to protect individuals whose information has been exposed in a data breach from other potentially related cybercrimes are essential and should be prioritised when data breaches occur.

Read the AIC media release.

Read Data breaches and cybercrime victimisation on the AIC website.