Global Burden of Armed Violence - The Geneva Declaration on ...

Chapter Four Lethal Encounters:
Non-conflict <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Violence</strong>
By far the largest aspect <strong>of</strong> the global
burden <strong>of</strong> armed violence is the deaths
and injuries that occur in non-conflict or
non-war settings. Countries such as South Africa,
Jamaica, and El Salvador suffer from extremely
high recorded levels <strong>of</strong> homicide, with more
deaths each year than in many contemporary
wars. This fact alone underlines the importance
<strong>of</strong> adopting a more comprehensive approach to
armed violence, since a narrow focus on conflict-
related deaths by development donors and prac-
titioners excludes the significant burden <strong>of</strong> armed
violence that occurs in non-conflict settings.
This chapter provides a regional and subregional
breakdown <strong>of</strong> the global distribution <strong>of</strong> non-
conflict violent deaths, both in absolute terms
and as rates per 100,000 population. It also exam-
ines the limited available trend data and provides
information on the burden <strong>of</strong> violence in cities,
firearm homicides, the gendered dimension <strong>of</strong>
violent deaths, and the issue <strong>of</strong> the effectiveness
<strong>of</strong> criminal justice systems.
<strong>The</strong> main findings <strong>of</strong> this chapter are as follows:
Approximately 490,000 deaths from homicide
are estimated to have occurred in 2004. 1 <strong>The</strong>
world average homicide rate in 2004 was 7.6
per 100,000 population.
Southern Africa, Central America, and South
America are the three subregions with the
highest homicide rates. West and Central
Europe, East Asia, and South-east Europe are
the three subregions showing the lowest rates
<strong>of</strong> homicide. 2
Approximately 60 per cent <strong>of</strong> all violent deaths
are committed with firearms, with variation
from a low <strong>of</strong> 19 per cent in West and Central
Europe to a high <strong>of</strong> 77 per cent in Central
America, based on data from 45 countries.
In countries with high homicide rates, women
make up around ten per cent <strong>of</strong> the victims.
As homicide rates drop, women make up a
greater percentage <strong>of</strong> victims, up to around 30
per cent in European countries. Available data
is seldom, however, disaggregated by sex.
Trend data shows few increases in homicide
rates over the past decade. <strong>The</strong> majority <strong>of</strong>
subregions examined show flat or slightly
increasing or decreasing trends. <strong>The</strong>re is little
evidence that armed violence has, at least at
the subregional level, increased overall in
the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia and
Transcaucasia in recent years.
Arriving at these findings is a complex and delicate
exercise, and the chapter also explains some
<strong>of</strong> the difficulties involved in measuring armed
violence. Existing statistics and data-gathering
mechanisms are underdeveloped, and greater
investment in effective measurement <strong>of</strong> the burden
<strong>of</strong> armed violence will be needed in order to
develop a more accurate picture <strong>of</strong> its overall
scope and impact. 3
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