Top 3 countries with the highest homicide rates
It’s no secret, we live in a violent world. However, a recent report released by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime exposed another more…
It’s no secret, we live in a violent world. However, a recent report released by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime exposed another more shocking truth: murder rates vary drastically from country to country.
The Global Study on Homicide conducted last year found that close to half a million people were intentionally murdered in 2012. What might surprise you even more is learning which countries made the top of the list and are now labeled as the three countries with the highest homicides rates. Yikes!
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3. United States
K9 units from the 68th Precinct search apartments for the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a young man in Brooklyn, New York. (Shutterstock)
It’s hard to swallow that our own home country is among the nations with the highest homicide rates.
It’s alarming to think that a total of 11,877,218 crimes were reported this past year.
Perhaps some of the influencing factors in the peak of homicide rates in many American cities are the constantly shifting demographics as well as thriving local economies. The biggest predictors of a person’s propensity to commit a criminal act in the US are considered to be age, gender and level of skills set.
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Keep in mind that when you have big natural resource booms, crowds of people are attracted to migrate to your neighborhood and community.
Whatever the reasons, whether its organized crime or simply younger, unemployed males we have to face the facts and realize that when it comes to homicides the US is a world leader.
2. Honduras
Honduras is a country reeling from violence, poverty and the legacy of a 2009 coup, and if opinion polls were accurate, the vote could fail to produce a clear winner. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
If a homicide takes place in Honduras, that’s normal. If the case is ever resolved, now that’s something to talk about.
Since 1995, close to 100 American citizens have been murdered there and only 28 of those cases have been solved to this date. Honduras is without a doubt one of the most violent and dangerous nations in Central America. Problems with drug cartels and gang violence have spread over the country like the plague.
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Northern coastal areas in Honduras, which once drew flocks of tourists, are now the stomping grounds of drug smugglers looking to establish routes.
In 2009 things got worse in Honduras after the coup which removed then President Manuel Zelaya from office.
Corrupt law enforcement entities and extreme poverty are the main factors attributed to Honduras high homicide rates. As of 2009 77 people were killed per every 100,000 people meaning that an approximate number of 20,000 are killed in Honduras every year.
Most of these cases remain unresolved and unpunished.
1. Mexico
Vigilantes attack a local police officer during clashes between local police and self defense groups in the town of Tixtla, Mexico, Monday, Aug. 26, 2013. The vigilantes beat several police with rifle butts and machetes and handcuffed them, then stole their rifles and briefly kidnapped some municipal officials, authorities said. The clash highlighted the confusion and contradictions in the Mexican government’s effort to deal with “self-defense groups” that have sprung up in parts of southern Mexico since February to fight drug cartels. (AP Photo)
“Mexico lindo y Querido” Beautiful and beloved Mexico, says a popular idiom in the North American nation. However, the country’s current status as holding the highest homicide rates in the entire world is anything but.
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In the past few years Mexico’s problem with drug cartels and violence has made international headlines. Tourist spots, which in the past were thought of as relatively safe such as the resort Playa del Carmen and Acapulco, have also been the target of criminals.
Gangs, far from being halted, have shown themselves to be cold-blooded. Locals have been terrorized by the sight of beheadings by rival gang members.
In the past six months Mexico has been witness to some of the most violent scenes in its nation’s history with vigilante groups, police forces and cartel members fighting for control. Approximately 25,700 murders take place annually.
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