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On Thursday, UK police launched a manhunt for a suspect who attacked a woman and her two young daughters with a corrosive substance on a busy street in south London. The victims, aged 31, 8, and 3, were taken to the hospital along with three members of the public who came to their aid.
The Metropolitan Police reported that five officers who responded to the incident also suffered minor injuries. The woman and the younger child sustained potentially life-changing injuries, with hospital staff unable to determine how serious they were right away. It was noted that the attacker and the woman knew each other, indicating that it was a targeted attack.
The incident comes at a time when acid attacks in the UK have seen a resurgence. According to the charity Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), incidents involving corrosive substances had been declining after reaching a peak of 941 cases in 2017.
However, there was a spike in cases in 2022, with at least 710 attacks reported across England and Wales, a 69% increase from 2021. It is worth noting that these figures were obtained through freedom of information requests and the actual number of attacks is likely to be higher as not all police forces responded.
The decline in cases prior to 2022 was partly attributed to stricter controls on the availability of acid and other corrosive substances under the 2019 Offensive Weapons Act.
