VIENNA, Dec 8 (Reuters) – The number of murders and other intentional homicides hit a record high worldwide in 2021, partly due to stress and economic pressures linked to lockdowns during the Covid-19 crisis, according to a UN report published Friday.
About 458,000 people were intentionally killed, higher than the 400,000 to 450,000 people recorded each year since researchers began collecting the data in 2000, according to the United Nations Office on Crime’s Global Homicide Study. drugs and crime (UNODC).
Escalating gang violence or political violence in Ecuador, Myanmar and other countries played a role, the study found, but the aftereffects of lockdowns also took a toll.
“The notable increase in murders in 2021 can be attributed in part to the economic impact of Covid-related restrictions,” the report said.
Initially, lockdown measures implemented around the world starting in 2020 may have reduced the number of murders because would-be killers largely stayed indoors and only mixed with people of the same age. home, according to the study.
But “in the longer term, the negative social and economic impacts of lockdowns, which may include increased stress and anxiety, unemployment or loss of income, can be expected to affect trends in homicides by creating an environment of “tension” that pushes individuals to commit crimes,” the report states.
Overall, countries in North and South America continued to have the highest homicide rates of the world’s five regions, more than six times that of Europe, which is the lowest. (Report by Francois Murphy, French version by Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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