Statistics on Violence

Current statistics on violence in the United States reveal a need to increase our capacity to reduce and prevent violence. Public and private research institutions have shed light on this problem and have helped to inform our civic activism, showing us that it is time we take our focus on this issue to the next level. We encourage you to use the statistics most compelling to you when speaking to others about the great need we face.

Download a PDF version of these statistics.

A World Heath Organization report estimates the cost of interpersonal violence in the U.S. at more than $300 billion per year. The cost to victims was estimated at more than $500 billion per year. Combined, this is the equivalent to nearly 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). [The Economic Dimensions of Interpersonal Violence, World Health Organization, 2004]

U.S. youth homicide rates are more than 10 times that of other leading industrial nations, on par with the rates in developing countries and those experiencing rapid social and economic changes. [World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization, 2002]

Direct expenditures for corrections (e.g., prisons and jails) by local, state and federal governments between 1982 and 2005 increased 619 percent to $65 billion per year. [Direct Expenditures by Criminal Justice Function, 1982-2005, Bureau of Justice Statistics]

In 2005, 5,686 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered--an average of 16 each day. [Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2008, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]

One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, and 10% of sexual assault victims are men. [2004 National Crime Victimization Survey]

In 2007, approximately 14,000 terrorist incidents occurred worldwide, and deaths caused increased to 22,000 persons. [Report on Terrorist Incidents, 2006 (issued April 2008), National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)]

Persons under the age of 25 accounted for 50 percent of those arrested for murder and 65 percent of those arrested for robbery in 2006. [Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2008, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]

Worldwide, an estimated 1.6 million people lost their lives to violence in 2000. About half were suicides, one-third were homicides, and one-fifth were casualties of armed conflict. [World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization, 2002]

In 2001, there were approximately 21,000 homicides and 31,000 suicides; and nearly 1.8 million people were assaulted, while about 323,000 harmed themselves and were treated in hospital emergency departments. [Surveillance for Fatal and Nonfatal Injuries – 2001, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Vital Statistics System]

Nearly 60 percent of boys who researchers classified as bullies in grades six through nine were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. Even more dramatic, 40 percent of them had three or more convictions by age 24. [“Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention,” Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003]

Of children in sixth through tenth grade, more than 3.2 million--nearly one in six--are victims of bullying each year, while 3.7 million bully other children. [“Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention,” Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003]

Seventeen percent of high school girls have been abused physically; twelve percent of high school girls have been abused sexually. [The Formative Years: Pathways to Substance Abuse Among Girls and Young Women Ages 8-22, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2003]

About 1 in 3 high school students say they have been in a physical fight in the past year, and about 1 in 8 of those students required medical attention for their injuries. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States, 2001. In: CDC Surveillance Summaries, June 28, 2002. MMWR, 51(SS-4), p. 5.]

Domestic Violence is the single greatest cause of injury to women. [Journal of Amer. Med. Assoc.]

In 2005, there were 191,670 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults in the U.S. [2005 National Crime Victimization Survey]

Each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner related physical assaults and rapes. [CDC Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet, 2006]

As many as 324,000 women each year experience intimate partner violence during their pregnancy. [Gazmararian JA, Petersen R, Spitz AM, Goodwin MM, Saltzman LE, Marks JS. “Violence and reproductive health; current knowledge and future research directions.” Maternal and Child Health Journal 2000;4(2):79-84.]

According to the World Health Organization violence is a leading worldwide public health problem. [World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization 2002]

Among women murdered by an intimate partner, 44% visited an emergency room in the two years prior to their deaths. ["Predicting Future among Women in Abusive Relationships." The Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care, 2004.]

Federal family violence prevention services program were under-funded by $48,000,000 in 2005. [Campaign for funding to end violence against women. FY Budget Briefing Book.]

Children in adult jails commit suicide eight times as often as their counterparts in juvenile facilities. In addition, children in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, and twice as likely to be beaten by jail staff. [Children’s Defense Fund, 1998]

U.S. Deaths Due to War
[Louisiana State University]