Using sources from the criminal justice, health, and conflict studies sectors, the Global Burden of Armed Violence’s 2011 database—which covers data on lethal violence perpetrated worldwide from 2004 to 2009—reveals that:
* At least 526,000 people are killed violently each year. This figure includes an estimated 55,000 direct conflict deaths, 396,000 intentional homicides, 54,000 so-called ‘unintentional’ homicides, and 21,000 killings during legal interventions.
• One in every ten of all reported violent deaths around the world occurs in conflict settings or during terrorist activities.
The study finds that one-quarter of the world’s countries—comprising some 1.2 billion people or roughly 18 per cent of the global population—exhibit high and very high rates of armed violence and account for almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of all violent deaths.
Of the 10 countries experiencing extremely high violent death rates five are in Latin America and in first place is El Salvador followed by war-torn Iraq. Honduras came in as number four, followed by Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala in seventh place.
