Data on interpersonal violence and violent crime is messy and uneven. Crime statistics (other than homicides) are not always comparable across countries. The likelihood that a crime will be reported depends on a country's level of economic and institutional development, and the confidence that citizens have in their state and its security institutions. Legal definitions of crimes vary across countries (although efforts to harmonize are increasing). Country-level crime data other than homicide rates remain rare and are suffer from gaps and inconsistencies, and yet because violence is so localized geographically, and because violence short of homicide exacts a terrible toll, the data we need is data disaggregated at the most refined geographical level possible.
A few key benchmarks:
The WHO threshold for endemic violence is 10 homicides per 100,000 people
The WHO threshold for conflict-level violence is 30 per 100,000 people.
The links on this page will connect you to global sources such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC; and the Small Arms Survey. They will also direct you to regional sources of data specific to the Central America subregion or individual countries.
Blog » Data Resources
Data Resources
Data on interpersonal violence and violent crime is messy and uneven. Crime statistics (other than homicides) are not always comparable across countries. The likelihood that a crime will be reported depends on a country's level of economic and institutional development, and the confidence that citizens have in their state and its security institutions. Legal definitions of crimes vary across countries (although efforts to harmonize are increasing). Country-level crime data other than homicide rates remain rare and are suffer from gaps and inconsistencies, and yet because violence is so localized geographically, and because violence short of homicide exacts a terrible toll, the data we need is data disaggregated at the most refined geographical level possible.
A few key benchmarks:
The links on this page will connect you to global sources such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC; and the Small Arms Survey. They will also direct you to regional sources of data specific to the Central America subregion or individual countries.
GLOBAL SOURCES
REGIONAL SOURCES
OTHER SOURCES