Author: Mario Luis Fuentes
United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), recently presented World Homicide Report2023, which analyzes available and comparable data between countries, to 2021, which the report classifies as exclusively lethal. According to the text, in the indicated year they died as a result of premeditated murder, in total 458,000 peoplethat is, on average 52 per hour.
Given the above, the first thing to consider is that in Mexico, according to National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), there is a recording 35,700 victims of intentional homicidesThis average 97.8 victims per day. Compared to global rates, Mexico’s share of the global total in 2021 was 7.89%, making us an exceptionally violent country in an exceptionally violent year. The above, excluding 5898 cases of violent death with unknown intentas reported by INEGI for the year indicated.
To also measure the scale of murderous violence that exists in our country, it is important to emphasize that in absolute numbers only Brazil, Nigeria and India are superior to our country, and all three countries are much more populous than ours: Nigeria has 213 million people; Brazil with approximately 214 million and India with almost 1.3 billion inhabitants, that is, without a doubt, among the countries.
In this group of countries, given this population size, the homicide rate in Brazil would be 22.38 victims per 100 thousand inhabitants; in India – 2.94; and in Nigeria – 21.74; In the case of Mexico, the rate will be equal to 28.18 murders per 100 thousand population. This allows us to say that among the deadliest countries, Mexico ranks first globally.
The UNODC report also shows that the average rate of intentional homicide is 5.8 victims per 100 thousand inhabitants, i.e. this figure in Mexico is 4.85 times higher to what is happening in a world plagued by violence and conflict.
This also happens in region with the highest murder rate in the worldWhich American continentand in particular, Latin America. Indeed, in Oceania, the rates recorded in 2015 and 2021 were 2.9 murders per 100 thousand inhabitants, respectively. In Europe, a decrease was recorded from 3.5 to 2.2 over the period.
In Asia the rate was almost the same., located at points 2.4 and 2.3 in both years indicated; in Africa the figures were 12.4 and 12.7; and in America – 16 and 15 in 2015 and 2021, respectively. What stands out in this context is that the second highest rate of femicide is also in America – 3.4 per 100 thousand women, compared to the highest rate on the African continent with 4.6 victims per 100 thousand women. .
Among the most important findings of the report is the fact that The highest homicide rates for men are in the 15 to 29 age group., with an indicator of 53.6 per 100 thousand in this age segment. For people aged 30 to 44, the rate is 43; in persons from 45 to 59 years old – 20.1; while in the group over 60 years of age it is 8.2 per 100 thousand.
The above shows the structural nature that deadly violence has acquired in our territory. Indeed, the series from 2012 to 2021 shows that the murder rate, although falling between 2012 and 2015, has remained at extremely high levels since that year, especially compared to the global average, to which this will be the horizon to which you can get closer. we must move forward as a country.
In this sense, according to INEGI estimates, in 2012 the homicide rate was 22.2 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants; in 2015 – 17.1; In 2018 it reached 29.3; In 2019 and 2020, the rates were 29 cases per 100 thousand people, and in 2021 it was 28. For 2022, the reported rate was 25.9 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. It’s true what we’re talking about the lowest figure of the current administrationbut it barely compares to the second-worst year recorded by the administration from 2012-2018.
Thus, he continues to emphasize that the largest number of deaths due to intentional homicide are associated with organized crime, and the majority of them continue to be committed with firearms.
Notwithstanding the above, we must not lose sight of the fact that the scale of other murders committed by common criminals is enormous; and that many of them involve forms of violence that require different mechanisms and policies for prevention as they relate to gender-based violence and domestic violence.
For this reason, we must insist on the urgency of ensuring that the country develops a new public and civil safety strategy that goes well beyond the strategy of patrolling and territorial security force presence. National Guard. It is necessary restore municipal police structures and provide them with opportunities necessary for true crime prevention; and at the same time develop new policies and strategies to prevent violence in all its forms. The task is enormous, and delaying its solution is unacceptable.
Researcher at PUED-UNAM
Source: Aristegui Noticias
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
