The facts about violence
Each year, 1.4 million people worldwide lose their lives to violence. For every person who dies as a result of violence, many more are injured and suffer from a range of physical, sexual, reproductive and mental health problems. (WHO, 2020)
In 2019 there were 1.4 million incidences of violence in England and Wales with 60% of these incidents involving young people and assault the second leading cause of hospital admissions for males aged 15-24.
Violent crime has risen by 19% and knife crime by 17% since 2017; the highest level for more than five years with young people below the age of 26 years most likely to be a victim or perpetrator. Each one of these incidences has the potential for life changing consequences, resulting in serious injury or death, the impact of grief on families and friends as well as destroyed futures of the perpetrators.
Early childhood enrichment programmes (3-5 yrs), life skills training and social development (6-18 yrs), and supporting high-risk adolescents to fullfill their education and goals are effective ways to end violence.
Knife Crime
There were over 49,000 police reports of knife crime offences recorded in England & Wales in 2022. That's an increase of 6% on the previous year but around a 50% increase compared with 2012, 10 years earlier.
There were 282 murders involving a knife or instrument in England and Wales in the 12 months to March 2022. This is sadly the highest total since 1946.
Shockingly, 13 of those 282 were aged under 16 years old. 99 of them under 25 years old.
Hospital admissions were also by 12% in 2020/21 compared with 2014/15
Bullying
fifth of young people in the UK have been bullied in the past 12 months
Three out of four people who were bullied said it affected their mental health and nearly half became depressed as a result
Of those bullied, 33% said that they had suicidal thoughts, while 41% were left feeling anxious
Nearly two-thirds (59%) believed attitudes towards their appearance were the likely cause of bullying
Domestic Violence
One in four women and one in six men will be affected by domestic abuse during their lives.
Approximately 10% of children are exposed to domestic violence annually, and 25% of these are exposed to at least 1 event during their childhood. Ninety percent of these children are direct eyewitnesses of violence.
Males who batter their wives batter the children 30% to 60% of the time
Has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police)
Gangs and county lines
The Children’s Commissioner estimates there are at least 46,000 children in England who are involved in gang activity.
In 2018, National Crime Agency figures showed there were 1,500 drug trafficking routes of this sort in the United Kingdom. See details
A 2019 assessment by the National Crime Agency estimated the total turnover of county lines activities throughout the UK to be roughly £500 million.
A 2020 report for the Home Office by Professor Dame Carol Black states that the county lines drug trade involved 27,000 young people in the UK as of 2020
Alcohol and substance misuse
Around 1.3 million aged between 16 and 59 used a class A drug in the last year, according to the latest official drug misuse statistics from the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Today over 200,000 children in England live with at least one parent, carer or adult who is alcohol dependent. (Young Minds)
Substance use amongst young people has been broadly in decline since 2001 (Young Minds)
Recreational use of illicit drugs can lead to the traumatic release of memories, resulting in more extreme forms of disassociation during the ‘come down’ or withdrawal (Young Minds)
