This book provides an authoritative overview of the contemporary
phenomenon widely labelled as 'acid attacks'. Although once thought of
as a predominantly 'gendered crime', acid and other corrosive substances
have been used in a range of violence crimes. This book explores the
historical use of corrosives in crime, legal definitions of such
attacks, the contexts in which corrosives are used, victim
characteristics, offender motivations for carrying and decanting
corrosives, and preventative strategies. Data is drawn from the
international literature and the analysis of primary data collected in
the UK (which is thought to have one of the highest rates of acid
attacks in the world) from interviews with over 20 convicted offenders
and from police case files relating to over 1,000 crimes involving
corrosive substances. This book adds significantly to the international
literature on weapons carrying and use, which to date has predominantly
focused around the possession and use of guns and knives.