Indicator 16.1.1 Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

Indicator 16.1.1: Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Definition:

The indicator is defined as the total count of victims of intentional homicide divided by the total population, expressed per 100,000 population.

Intentional homicide is defined as the unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury (Source: International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes, ICCS 2015); population refers to total resident population in a given country in a given year.

Concepts:

The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) is the source of the definition of intentional homicide.

Intentional homicide (ICCS 0101): Unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury.

The statistical definition contains three elements that characterize the killing of a person as “intentional homicide”:

1. The killing of a person by another person (objective element);

2. The intent of the perpetrator to kill or seriously injure the victim (subjective element);

3. The unlawfulness of the killing, which means that the law considers the perpetrator liable for the unlawful death (legal element).

This definition states that, for statistical purposes, all killings corresponding to the three criteria above should be considered as intentional homicides, irrespective of definitions provided by national legislations or practices.

In the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), deaths coded with ICD-10 codes X85-Y09 (injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill) and ICD-10 code Y87.1 (sequelae of assault), or ICD-11 codes PD50-PF2Z and PJ20-PJ2Z, generally correspond to the definition of intentional homicide discussed above.

Number of homicide deaths per 100,000 population

Two separate sources exist at country level: a) criminal justice system; b) civil registration/vital statistics. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) collects and publishes data from criminal justice systems through its annual data collection mandated by the UN General Assembly (UN Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, UN-CTS); the World Health Organization (WHO) collects and publishes death certificate data (civil registration/vital statistics). The data collection through the UN-CTS is facilitated by a network of over 140 national Focal Points appointed by responsible authorities.

Data on intentional homicide are sent to UNODC by member states, usually through national UN Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (UN-CTS) Focal Points, which in most cases are national institutions responsible for data production in the area of crime and criminal justice (National Statistical Offices, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, etc.). The primary source on intentional homicide is usually an institution of the criminal justice system (Police, Ministry of Interior, general Prosecutor Office, etc.). Data produced by public health/civil registration system are sent to WHO through national statistics offices and/or ministries of health.

The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) provides important clarifications on the definition of intentional homicide. In particular, it states that the following killings are included in the count of homicide:

- Murder

- Honour killing

- Serious assault leading to death

- Death as a result of terrorist activities

- Dowry-related killings

- Femicide

- Infanticide

- Voluntary manslaughter

- Extrajudicial killings

- Killings caused by excessive force by law enforcement/state officials

Furthermore, the ICCS Briefing Note on Unlawful killings in conflict situations provides indications on how to distinguish between intentional homicides, killings directly related to war/conflict and other killings that amount to war crimes.

The complete recording of homicide deaths in death-registration systems requires good linkages with coronial and police systems, but can be impeded by delays in determining intent of injury deaths. Less than one half of WHO Member States have well-functioning death-registration systems that record causes of death.

The fact that homicide data are typically produced by two separate and independent sources at national level (criminal justice and public health) represents a specific asset of this indicator, as the comparison of the two sources is a tool to assess accuracy of national data. Usually, for countries where data from both sources exist, a good level of matching between the sources is recorded (see UNODC Global Study on Homicide, 2013).

The indicator is calculated as the total number of victims of intentional homicide recorded in a given year divided by the total resident population in the same year, multiplied by 100,000.

$Rate=100,000*\frac{Victims}{Population}$

For the rate by sex, the number of victims of that sex should be divided by the population of the same sex.

In several countries, two separate sets of data on intentional homicide are produced, respectively from criminal justice and public health/civil registration systems. When existing, figures from both data sources are reported. Population data are derived from annual estimates produced by the UN Population Division.

In cases where data on intentional homicide victims are not available, the number of intentional homicide offences, that is the number of incidents involving one or more victims recorded by the police, can be used as a proxy.

2024-07-29

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), World Health Organization (WHO)

5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

16.1.3: Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months

16.1.4: Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live after dark