View source for Homicide

{{short description|Killing of a human by another human}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Cain kills Abel.png|thumb|''[[Cain]] Slays [[Abel]]'' by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2017}}
{{homicide}}'''Homicide''' is an act in which a [[person]] causes the [[death]] of another person. A homicide requires only a [[Volition (psychology)|volition]]al act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from [[Accident|accidental]], [[Reckless homicide|reckless]], or [[Negligent homicide|negligent acts]] even if there is no [[Intent (law)|intent]] to cause harm.<ref>{{cite news |last1 = Melenik |first1 = Judy |title = 7 Common Mistakes Regarding Autopsy Reports |url = https://www.forensicmag.com/article/2015/09/7-common-mistakes-regarding-autopsy-reports |access-date = 21 November 2017 |agency = Forensic News Daily |publisher = Advantage Business Media |date = 9 September 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035304/https://www.forensicmag.com/article/2015/09/7-common-mistakes-regarding-autopsy-reports |archive-date = 1 December 2017 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> 

Homicides can be divided into many overlapping legal categories, such as [[murder]], [[manslaughter]], [[justifiable homicide]], [[assassination]], killing in [[war]] (either following the [[laws of war]] or as a [[war crime]]), [[euthanasia]], and [[capital punishment]], depending on the circumstances of the death. These different types of homicides are often treated very differently in human [[Society|societies]]; some are considered [[crime]]s, while others are permitted or even [[Court order|ordered]] by the [[Law|legal system]].

== Criminality ==
[[Criminal]] homicide takes many forms, including accidental killing and murder. Criminal homicide is divided into two broad categories—[[murder]] and [[manslaughter]]—based upon the [[Mental state|state of mind]] and intent of the person who commits the homicide.<ref name="mlawmurder">{{cite book |title = Criminal Law: Criminal Homicide |chapter-url = http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/part/chapter-9-criminal-homicide/  |publisher = University of Minnesota |access-date = 11 September 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204657/http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/part/chapter-9-criminal-homicide/ |archive-date = 11 September 2017 |df = dmy-all |chapter = Chapter 9: Criminal Homicide |date = 17 December 2015 }}</ref>

A report issued by the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] in July 2019 documented that nearly 464,000 people around the world were killed in homicides in 2017, a number significantly in excess of the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts during the same period.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2019/July/homicide-kills-far-more-people-than-armed-conflict--says-new-unodc-study.html?ref=fs1|title=Homicide kills far more people than armed conflict, says new UNODC study|website=[[unodc.org]]|access-date=2019-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503223850/https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2019/July/homicide-kills-far-more-people-than-armed-conflict--says-new-unodc-study.html?ref=fs1|archive-date=3 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Murder ===
{{main|Murder}}
Murder is the most serious crime that can be charged following a homicide. In many jurisdictions, murder may be punished by [[life imprisonment|life in prison]] or even [[capital punishment]].<ref>{{cite web |title = Federal Laws Providing for the Death Penalty |url = https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-laws-providing-death-penalty |website = Death Penalty Information Center |access-date = 11 September 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204720/https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-laws-providing-death-penalty |archive-date = 11 September 2017 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> Although categories of murder can vary by jurisdiction, murder charges fall under [[Murder#Degrees of murder|two broad categories]], or ''degrees'':
* First degree: The [[premeditated]], unlawful, intentional killing of another person.
* Second degree: The intentional, unlawful killing of another person, but without any premeditation.

In some jurisdictions, a homicide that occurs during the commission of a dangerous [[crime]] may constitute murder, regardless of the actor's intent to commit homicide.  In the [[United States]], this is known as the [[felony murder rule]].<ref name="felonymurder">{{cite journal |last1 = Fletcher |first1 = George P. |title = Reflections on Felony Murder |journal = Southwestern University Law Review |date = 1980 |volume = 12 |page = 413 |url = http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/swulr12&div=30&id=&page= |access-date = 11 September 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171208013627/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fswulr12&div=30&id=&page= |archive-date = 8 December 2017 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> In simple terms, under the felony murder rule a person who commits a felony may be guilty of murder if someone dies as a result of the commission of the crime, including the victim of the felony, a bystander or a co-felon, regardless their intent—or lack thereof—to kill, and even when the death results from the actions of a co-defendant or third party who is reacting to the crime.
==== Preterintentional killing ====
{{Main|Preterintention}}

The preterintentional killing<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Palermo |first1=George B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoqgC7_NG9cC&q=preterintentionhttps%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.it%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DeoqgC7_NG9cC&pg=PA57 |title=Offender Profiling: An Introduction to the Sociopsychological Analysis of Violent Crime |last2=Kocsis |first2=Richard N. |date=2005 |publisher=Charles C Thomas Publisher |isbn=978-0-398-07549-1 |language=en}}</ref> occurs when a person,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Asworth |first=Andrew |date=2013 |title=Principles of Criminal Law |url=https://aghalibrary.com/storage/books/1609402608_AghaLibrary.pdf |website=aghalibrary.com }}</ref> with actions aimed at hitting or harming, unintentionally causes the death of a person:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RCJ4EAAAQBAJ&q=Alan+Reed+homicide |title=Fault in Criminal Law: A Research Companion |last2=Bohlander |first2=Michael |date=2022-08-22 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-63052-7 |language=en}}</ref> the agent will be liable for objective responsibility (or fault, for the laws that require it)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Horder |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YurbBAAAQBAJ&q=jeremy+horder+homicide |title=Homicide Law in Comparative Perspective |date=2007-12-10 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-84731-385-0 |language=en}}</ref> for the death event.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVFtDwAAQBAJ&q=Alan+Reed+homicide |title=Homicide in Criminal Law: A Research Companion |last2=Bohlander |first2=Michael |date=2018-10-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-01629-2 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Manslaughter ===
{{main|Manslaughter}}

Manslaughter is a form of homicide in which the person who commits the homicide either does not intend to kill the victim, or kills the victim as the result of circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point of potentially losing control of their actions.<ref name="mlawmanslaughter">{{cite book |title = Criminal Law: Manslaughter |chapter-url = http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/9-6-manslaughter/  |publisher = University of Minnesota |access-date = 11 September 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170910040535/http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/9-6-manslaughter/ |archive-date = 10 September 2017 |df = dmy-all |chapter = 9.6 Manslaughter |date = 17 December 2015 }}</ref> The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draco]] in the 7th century BC. The penalty for manslaughter is normally less than the penalty for murder. The two broad categories of manslaughter are:<ref name="mlawmanslaughter" />
* [[Voluntary manslaughter]]: the intentional, unpremeditated killing of another person as the result of a disturbed state of mind, or ''heat of passion''.
* Involuntary manslaughter: the unintentional killing of another person through an act of recklessness that shows indifference to the lives and safety of others, or an act of negligence that could reasonably be foreseen to result in death. The act that results in death may be intentional, such as pushing somebody in anger, but their death (such as by their subsequently falling, striking their head, and suffering a lethal head injury) is not.

Another form of manslaughter in some jurisdictions is ''constructive manslaughter'', which may be charged if a person causes a death without intention but as the result of violating an important safety law or regulation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Slapper |first1 = Gary |title = Corporate Manslaughter: an Examination of the Determinants of Prosecutorial Polic |journal = Social & Legal Studies |date = 1 December 1993 |volume = 2 |issue = 4 |pages = 423–443 |doi = 10.1177/096466399300200404 |s2cid = 1337567 |url = http://oro.open.ac.uk/20975/2/1535A240.pdf |access-date = 13 June 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200212051500/http://oro.open.ac.uk/20975/2/1535A240.pdf |archive-date = 12 February 2020 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>e.d. fatal accidents with alpinists [https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1999/09/09/condamnation-de-deux-alpinistes-pour-homicide-involontaire_3575132_1819218.html ''Condamnation de deux alpinistes pour « homicide involontaire »''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205133104/https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1999/09/09/condamnation-de-deux-alpinistes-pour-homicide-involontaire_3575132_1819218.html |date=5 February 2019 }} [https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2015/12/11/l-avocat-du-syndicat-des-guides-derape-sur-l-arete-du-gouter ''L’avocat du syndicat des guides dérape sur l’arête du Goûter''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226233049/https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2015/12/11/l-avocat-du-syndicat-des-guides-derape-sur-l-arete-du-gouter |date=26 December 2018 }}</ref>

=== Lawful excuse ===
{{main|Justifiable homicide}}
Not all homicides are crimes, or subject to criminal prosecution.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Stevens |first1 = T.L. |title = Manslaughter and Negligent Homicide |journal = Judge Advocate General Journal |date = February 1957 |volume = 1957 |url = http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/naval1957&div=13&id=&page= |access-date = 11 September 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171208013627/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fnaval1957&div=13&id=&page= |archive-date = 8 December 2017 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> Some are legally privileged, meaning that they are not criminal acts at all. Others may occur under circumstances that provide the defendant with a full or partial defense to criminal prosecution. Common defenses include:

* [[Right of self-defense|Self-defense]]: while most homicides by civilians are criminally prosecutable, a [[right of self-defense]] (often including the right to defend others)<ref>See, e.g., California Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 1</ref> is widely recognized, including, in dire circumstances, the use of deadly force.<ref>See, e.g., California Penal Code, Sec. 197.</ref>
* [[Insanity defense|Mental incapacity]]: A defendant may attempt to prove that they are not criminally responsible for a homicide due to a mental disorder.  In some jurisdictions, mentally incompetent killers may be [[involuntary commitment|involuntarily committed]] in lieu of criminal trial. Mental health and development are often taken into account during sentencing. For example, in the United States, the death penalty cannot be applied to convicted murderers with intellectual disabilities.<ref>See the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''[[Atkins v. Virginia]]''.</ref>
* [[Age of criminal responsibility|Defense of infancy]] – Small children are not held criminally liable before the age of criminal responsibility.  A [[juvenile court]] may handle defendants above this age but below the legal [[age of majority]], though because homicide is a serious crime some older minors are charged in an adult justice system.  Age is sometimes also taken into account during sentencing even if the perpetrator is old enough to have criminal responsibility.
* [[Justifiable homicide]] or privilege: Due to the circumstances, although a homicide occurs, the act of killing is not unlawful. For example, a killing on the battlefield during war is normally lawful, or a police officer may shoot a dangerous suspect in order to protect the officer's own life or the lives and safety of others.

The availability of defenses to a criminal charge following a homicide may affect the homicide rate. For example, it has been suggested that the availability of "[[Stand-your-ground law|stand your ground]]" defense has resulted in an increase in the homicide rate in U.S. jurisdictions that recognize the defense,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Vedantam|first1=Shankar|title='Stand Your Ground' Linked To Increase In Homicides|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/167984117/-stand-your-ground-linked-to-increase-in-homicide|website=All Things Considered|publisher=National Public Radio|access-date=25 January 2018|date=2 January 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126012809/https://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/167984117/-stand-your-ground-linked-to-increase-in-homicide|archive-date=26 January 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> including Florida.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Sanburn|first1=Josh|title=Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' Law Linked to Homicide Increase|url=https://time.com/4569145/florida-stand-your-ground-law-homicide-increase-study/|access-date=25 January 2018|magazine=Time|date=14 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323223358/http://time.com/4569145/florida-stand-your-ground-law-homicide-increase-study/|archive-date=23 March 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cheng|first1=Cheng|last2=Hoekstra|first2=Mark|title=Does Strengthening Self-Defense Law Deter Crime or Escalate Violence? Evidence from Expansions to Castle Doctrine|journal=Journal of Human Resources|date=2013|volume=48|issue=3|pages=821–854|url=https://0673f437-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/hoekstramarktamu/castle_doctrine.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605031246/https://0673f437-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/hoekstramarktamu/castle_doctrine.pdf |archive-date=2018-06-05 |url-status=live|access-date=25 January 2018|doi=10.1353/jhr.2013.0023|s2cid=14390513}}</ref>

== By state actors ==

Homicides committed by [[State (polity)|state actors]] may be considered lawful or unlawful according to:
* [[Municipal law]]
* [[International law]] to which the state has agreed to via treaty
* [[Peremptory norm]]s which are ''de facto '' enforced as obligatory on all states, such as prohibitions against [[genocide]], [[piracy]] and [[slavery]]

Types of state killings include:
* [[Capital punishment]], where a judicial system of a state authorizes the death penalty as punishments for certain crime, though many countries have [[Capital punishment by country|abolished it completely]]
* Lawful killings during [[war]], such as the killing of [[enemy combatant]]s
* Lawful use of [[deadly force]] by [[security forces]] (such as [[law enforcement officer]]s or [[military personnel]]) to maintain public safety in emergency situations
* [[Extrajudicial killing]]s, where state actors kill people (typically individuals or small groups) without judicial court proceedings
* [[War crime]]s that involve killing (war crimes not authorized by the state may also be committed by individuals who are then subject to domestic [[military justice]])
* Widespread, systematic killing of a particular group of people by the state, which depending on the target, could be called genocide, [[politicide]] or [[classicide]]. In some cases these events may also meet the definition of a [[crime against humanity]].

The term [[mass killing]] has been proposed by [[Genocide studies|genocide scholars]] as a concept to define certain large-scale killings of [[non-combatant]]s by state actors. Some medium- and large-scale mass killings by state actors have been termed [[massacre]]s, though not all such killings have been so named. The term "[[democide]]" was coined by American political scientist [[Rudolph Rummel]] to describe "murder by government" in general, which included both extrajudicial killings and widespread systematic acts of homicide. Killings committed by state actors might be called "murder" or "mass murder" in general usage, especially if seen by the commentator as unethical, but the domestic legal definitions of murder, manslaughter, etc., usually exclude killings carried out by lawful government action.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Esteban|first1=Joan Maria|last2=Morelli|first2=Massimo|last3=Rohner|first3=Dominic|date=October 2015|title=Strategic Mass Killings|location=Chicago, Illinois|publisher=University of Chicago Press|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=123|issue=5|pages=1087–1132|doi=10.1086/682584|s2cid=154859371}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Schaak|first=Beth|year=2007|chapter=The Crime of Political Genocide: Repairing the Genocide Convention's Blind Spot|editor-last1=Campbell|editor-first1=Tom|editor-last2=Lattimer|editor-first2=Mark|title=Genocide and Human Rights|edition=1st eBook|location=London, England|publisher=Routledge|pages=140–173|doi=10.4324/9781351157568|isbn=978-1-351-15756-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Schabas|first=William A.|year=2009|title=Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes|edition=2nd hardcover|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-71900-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sémelin|first=Jacques|collaboration=Hoffman, Stanley|year=2007|chapter=The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide|title=Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide|series=The CERI Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies|translator-last=Schoch|translator-first=Cynthia|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|pages=310–361|isbn=978-0-231-14282-3}}</ref>

[[Dartmouth College]] professor [[Benjamin Valentino]] outlines two major categories of mass killings: dispossessive mass killing and coercive mass killing. The first category includes four subcategories: communist, fascist, ethnic and territorial mass killings, while second category includes [[counterinsurgency]], [[Terrorism|terrorist]] and [[Imperialism|imperialist]] mass killings. Valentino included several prominent examples of dispossessive mass killing to include his arguments, including the [[Holodomor]], [[Great Leap Forward]] and [[Cambodian genocide]] for communist mass killings, the [[White Terror (Spain)|White Terror]], [[the Holocaust]] and [[Dirty War]] for fascist mass killings, the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]] and [[Rwandan genocide]]s for ethnic mass killings and the [[American Indian Wars]] and [[Herero and Nama genocide]] for territorial mass killings. He also included examples of coercive mass killings, including counterinsurgency killings during the [[Algerian War]] and [[Soviet–Afghan War]], terrorist mass killings such as [[strategic bombing during World War II]] and the [[blockade of Biafra]], and [[German-occupied Europe|German]] and [[Japanese colonial empire|Japanese imperialism]] during [[World War II]] as examples of imperialist mass killings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Valentino |first1=Benjamin |year=2004 |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century |edition=hardback |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-801-43965-0 |oclc=53013098}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bach-Lindsday |first1=Dylan |last2=Huth |first2=Paul |last3=Valentino |first3=Benjamin |date=May 2004 |title=Draining the Sea: Mass Killing and Guerrilla Warfare |journal=International Organization |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=375–407 |doi=10.1017/S0020818304582061 |jstor=3877862 |s2cid=154296897}}</ref><ref>Mark Aarons (2007). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA69 Justice Betrayed: Post-1945 Responses to Genocide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216004518/https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&lpg=PA80&pg=PA69 |date=16 December 2018 }}." In David A. Blumenthal and Timothy L. H. McCormack (eds). ''[http://www.brill.com/legacy-nuremberg-civilising-influence-or-institutionalised-vengeance The Legacy of Nuremberg: Civilising Influence or Institutionalised Vengeance? (International Humanitarian Law).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105053952/http://www.brill.com/legacy-nuremberg-civilising-influence-or-institutionalised-vengeance |date=5 January 2016 }}'' [[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]. {{ISBN|9004156917}} pp.&nbsp;[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA81 80–81] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424002351/https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA81 |date=24 April 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bevins |first1=Vincent|authorlink=Vincent Bevins |title= [[The Jakarta Method|The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World]]|date=2020 |publisher= [[PublicAffairs]]|pages=238–243 |isbn= 978-1541742406}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=McSherry|first1=J. Patrice|author-link1= J. Patrice McSherry|editor1=Esparza, Marcia |editor2=Henry R. Huttenbach|editor3=Daniel Feierstein|title=State Violence and Genocide in Latin America: The Cold War Years (Critical Terrorism Studies)|chapter=Chapter 5: "Industrial repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=acGNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 107]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2011|isbn=978-0415664578|chapter-url=https://www.routledge.com/State-Violence-and-Genocide-in-Latin-America-The-Cold-War-Years/Esparza-Huttenbach-Feierstein/p/book/9780415496377}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-secrets-in-guatemalas-bones.html?_r=1 The Secrets in Guatemala's Bones] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203002909/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-secrets-in-guatemalas-bones.html?_r=1 |date=3 February 2018 }}. ''[[The New York Times]].'' June 30, 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Sarah Esther|date=December 13, 2016|title=Remembering El Mozote, the Worst Massacre in Modern Latin American History|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/remembering-el-mozote-the-worst-massacre-in-modern-latin-american-history/|work=[[The Nation]]|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921142205/https://www.thenation.com/article/remembering-el-mozote-the-worst-massacre-in-modern-latin-american-history/|archive-date=21 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Davis |first=Mike|date=2017 |title=Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World|publisher=Verso|page=[https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00dav_wbr/page/9 9]|isbn=978-1784786625|author-link=Mike Davis (scholar)|title-link=Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Hochschild|first=Adam|date=1999 |title=King Leopold's Ghost|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0618001903|author-link=Adam Hochschild|title-link=King Leopold's Ghost}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maos-great-leap-forward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html |title=Mao's Great Leap Forward 'killed 45 million in four years' |last=Akbar |first=Arifa |date=17 September 2010 |access-date=20 September 2010 |location=London |work=The Independent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029150409/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maos-great-leap-forward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html |archive-date=29 October 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Horesh |first=Theo |date=April 30, 2017 |title=Is the Trump administration enabling genocide in Yemen? And will Americans ever pay attention? |url=https://www.salon.com/2017/04/30/is-the-trump-administration-enabling-genocide-in-yemen-and-will-americans-ever-pay-attention/ |work=Salon |access-date=October 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027185823/https://www.salon.com/2017/04/30/is-the-trump-administration-enabling-genocide-in-yemen-and-will-americans-ever-pay-attention/ |archive-date=27 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 13, 2017 |title=Saudi Arabia Threatens Famine, Genocide in Yemen |url=https://therealnews.com/stories/aorkaby1113yemen |work=[[The Real News]] |access-date=October 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704124450/https://therealnews.com/stories/aorkaby1113yemen |archive-date=4 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas|date=September 26, 2018|title=Be Outraged by America's Role in Yemen's Misery|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/opinion/yemen-united-states-united-nations.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028062629/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/opinion/yemen-united-states-united-nations.html|archive-date=28 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Rates ==
{{Main|List of countries by intentional homicide rate}}
[[File:World map of homicide rates per 100,000 people.png |thumb|upright=1.2|Map of [[List of countries by intentional homicide rate|intentional homicide rate per 100,000]] with data source [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]]<ref name=OWID>{{cite web |title=Homicide rate |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc}}</ref>]]
[[File:20241113 Homicide rates vs gross national income per person, by country.svg|thumb|upright=1.2| National homicide rates are generally lower in high-income countries.<ref name=HomicideVsIncome>Homicide data from {{cite web |author1=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |title=Homicide rate, 2023 / Annual number of deaths from homicide per 100,000 people |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc?tab=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113181658/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc?tab=table |archive-date=13 November 2024 |date=2024 |quote=Data source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2024) |url-status=live}}<br>● Income data from {{cite web |author1=United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) |title=Gross national income (GNI) per capita |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gross-national-income-per-capita-undp?tab=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113182218/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gross-national-income-per-capita-undp?tab=table |archive-date=13 November 2024 |date=2024 |url-status=live |quote=Data source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2024)}}</ref>]]
[[File:2021 Homicide rates in countries with highest homicide rates - variable-width bar chart.svg |thumb|upright=1.2|The countries with the most homicides per unit population are generally countries with small populations (very narrow rectangles in chart).<ref name=UNODC_homicides_2021/>]]

===Global===
A 2011 study by the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] brought together a wide variety of data sources to create a worldwide picture of trends and developments.<ref name=un2011>{{cite web|title=2011 Global Study on Homicide|url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/global-study-on-homicide-2011.html|website=UNODC|publisher=[[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]]|access-date=10 May 2018|date=2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218181622/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/global-study-on-homicide-2011.html|archive-date=18 December 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Sources included multiple agencies and field offices of the [[United Nations]], the [[World Health Organization]], and national and international sources from 207 countries.

The report estimated that in 2010, the total number of homicides globally was 468,000. More than a third (36%) occurred in [[Africa]], 31 percent in the [[Americas]], 27 percent in [[Asia]], five percent in [[Europe]] and one percent in [[Oceania]]. Since 1995, the homicide rate has been falling in Europe, North America, and Asia, but has risen to a near "crisis point" in [[Central America]] and the [[Caribbean]]. Of all homicides worldwide, 82 percent of the victims were men, and 18 percent were women.<ref name=jr-un-2011>{{cite news |url = http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/un-2011-global-study-homicide/ |title = United Nations 2011 Global Study on Homicide |publisher = Journalist's Resource |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111230000157/http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/un-2011-global-study-homicide/ |archive-date = 30 December 2011 |df = dmy-all |access-date = 2 December 2011 }}</ref> On a per-capita scaled level, "the homicide rate in Africa and the Americas (at 17 and 16 per 100,000 population, respectively) is more than double the global average (6.9 per 100,000), whereas in Asia, Europe and Oceania (between 3 and 4 per 100,000) it is roughly half".<ref name=jr-un-2011 />

In its 2013 global report, UNODC estimated the total number of homicides worldwide had dropped to 437,000 in 2012. The Americas accounted for 36 percent of all homicides globally, Africa 21 percent, Asia 38 percent, Europe five percent and Oceania 0.3%.<ref name=UNODC13>UNODC, [http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf Global Study on Homicide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103183851/http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |date=3 November 2014 }} 2013 Report</ref> The world's average homicide rate stood at 6.2 per 100,000 population in 2012, but the Southern Africa region and Central America had intentional homicide rates four times higher than the world average. They were the most violent regions globally, outside of regions experiencing wars and religious or sociopolitical terrorism.<ref name=UNODC13 /> Asia exclusive of West Asia and Central Asia, Western Europe, Northern Europe, as well as Oceania had the lowest homicide rates in the world. About 41 percent of the homicides worldwide occurred in 2012 with the use of guns, 24 percent by [[stabbing]] with sharp objects such as knife, and 35 percent by other means such as poison. The global conviction rate for the crime of intentional homicide in 2012 was 43 percent.<ref>UNODC, [http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf Global Study on Homicide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103183851/http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |date=3 November 2014 }} 2013 Report, page 18</ref>

The 2011 Global Study on Homicide reported that "[W]here homicide rates are high and firearms and [[organized crime]] in the form of [[drug trafficking]] play a substantial role, 1 in 50 men aged 20 will be murdered before they reach the age of 31. At the other, the probability of such an occurrence is up to 400 times lower. [H]omicide is much more common in countries with low levels of human development, high levels of [[income inequality]] and weak [[rule of law]] than in more [[equitable society|equitable societies]], where socioeconomic stability seems to be something of an antidote to homicide. In cases of intimate partner and family-related homicide cases, women murdered by their past or present male partner make up the vast majority of homicide victims worldwide."<ref name=un2011 />

===Historic European===
{| class="wikitable" style = "float: right; margin-left:10px; text-align:center"
|-
! Estimated homicide rates<br />in Europe{{r|eisner|p=100}}
! Deaths per year<br />per 100,000 population
|-
| 13th–14th centuries
| 32
|-
| 15th century
| 41
|-
| 16th century
| 19 
|-
| 17th century
| 11
|-
| 18th century
| 3.2 
|-
| 19th century
| 2.6 
|-
| 20th century
| 1.4
|}
In the mid-second millennium, local levels of violence in Europe were extremely high by the standards of modern developed countries. Typically, small groups of people would battle their neighbors using the farm tools at hand, such as knives, sickles, hammers, and axes. Mayhem and death were deliberate. The vast majority of Europeans lived in rural areas till 1800. Cities were few, and small in size, but their concentration of population was conducive to violence and their trends resembled those in rural areas.<ref name=eisner>{{cite journal |last1=Eisner |first1=Manuel |title=Long-Term Historical Trends in Violent Crime |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279936907 |journal=Crime and Justice |date=2003 |volume=30 |pages=83–142 |doi=10.1086/652229|s2cid=53317626 }}</ref>  Across Europe, homicide trends show a steady long-term decline.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=Lawrence |title=Interpersonal Violence in English Society, 1300–1980 |journal=Past and Present |date=1983 |issue=101 |pages=22–33 |doi=10.1093/past/101.1.22}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thome |first1=Helmut |title=Explaining Long Term Trends in Violent Crime |journal=Crime, Histoire & Sociétés |date=1 January 2001 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=69–86 |doi=10.4000/chs.738|pmid=19582950 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Regional differences were small, except that Italy's decline was later and slower. From about 1200 AD through 1800 AD, homicide rates from violent local episodes, not including military actions, declined by a factor of ten, from approximately 32 deaths per 100,000 people to 3.2 per 100,000. In the 20th century, the homicide rate fell to 1.4 per 100,000. Police forces seldom existed outside the cities; prisons only became common after 1800. Before then, harsh penalties were imposed for homicide (severe whipping or execution) but they proved ineffective at controlling or reducing the insults to honor that precipitated most of the violence.<ref>On the growing role of local government in reducing local feuds see Matthew H. Lockwood, ''Death, Justice and the State: The Coroner and the Monopoly of Violence in England, 1500–1800'' (2014) and his ''The Conquest of Death: Violence and the Birth of the Modern English State'' (2017).</ref> The decline does not correlate with economics or measures of state control. Most historians attribute the trend in homicides to a steady increase in [[self-control]] of the sort promoted by [[Protestantism]], and necessitated by schools and factories.{{r|eisner|pp=127–32}} Eisner argues that macro-level indicators for societal efforts to promote [[civility]], self-discipline, and long-sightedness are strongly associated with fluctuations in homicide rates over the past six centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eisner |first1=Manuel |title=From Swords to Words: Does Macro-Level Change in Self-Control Predict Long-Term Variation in Levels of Homicide? |journal=Crime and Justice |date=2014 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=65–134 |doi=10.1086/677662 |s2cid=144894344 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264402032}}</ref>

===United States===
{{see also|List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate }}
{{ multiple image | total_width=500
| image1= Homicide rates per 100,000 by state. CDC. US map.svg |caption1= Homicide rates by U.S. state per 100,000 residents<ref name=cdc-table>[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide_mortality/homicide.htm Homicide Mortality by State]. [[National Center for Health Statistics]]. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]].</ref><ref name=NH>[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/newhampshire/nh.htm New Hampshire]. [[National Center for Health Statistics]]. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]].</ref><ref name=VT>[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/vermont/vt.htm Vermont]. [[National Center for Health Statistics]]. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]].</ref>
| image2= Homicide rate by county.webp |caption2= Homicide rate by county
}}
[[File:2021 Homicide rates in high-income countries - variable-width bar chart.svg|thumb |Among 15 high-income countries, the U.S. has both the highest homicide rate, and the largest number of homicides (chart shows homicide data for 2021 in selected countries).<ref name=UNODC_homicides_2021>● Homicide data from {{cite web |title=Homicide rate UNODC / Homicide rate, 2021 |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc?tab=table |website=OurWorldInData.org |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241104050317/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/homicide-rate-unodc?tab=table |archive-date=4 November 2024 |date=2023 |url-status=live}}
<br>● 2021 Population data from {{cite web |title=The World Factbook (2021 Archive) Country Comparisons – Population |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2021/field/population/country-comparison |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240704193118/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2021/field/population/country-comparison |archive-date=4 July 2024 |url-status=live}}
<br>● List of high-income countries from {{cite web |title=High-Income Countries 2024 |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/high-income-countries |publisher=World Population Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620013723/https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/high-income-countries |archive-date=20 June 2024 |date=2024 |quote=World Bank's income categories are updated annually, at the start of each financial year, and are based upon the most recently released data, which tends to be 1.5 years previous. |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Map of US, feticide laws.svg|thumb |Fetal homicide laws in the United States {{legend|#02ffff;|"Homicide" or "murder"}}
{{legend|#ffff00;|Other crime against fetus}}
{{legend|#ff3399;|Depends on age of fetus}}
{{legend|#00ff00;|Assaulting mother}}
{{legend|#c0c0c0;|No law on feticide}}
]]

In the US, the [[National Violent Death Reporting System]] is a centralized database of relevant information from [[death certificate]]s, [[coroner]] and [[medical examiner]] records, and law enforcement reports, which emerged from the ''National Violent Injury Statistics System''. This public health surveillance tool began collecting data in 2003 and is analyzed by the [[National Center for Injury Prevention and Control]] at the CDC to provide nationally representative data.

In 2020, there were 18,439 cases of single homicide (28.6% of all violent deaths)  in the 48 states and DC, a rate of 6.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. There were 695 cases of multiple homicide (1%) and 571 cases (<1%) of homicide followed by suicide with an overall homicide rate of 7.5 per 100,000 population. The weapons most commonly used in homicides were firearms, used in 76.7% of homicides overall; followed by a sharp instrument (9%); a blunt instrument (3%); personal weapons (e.g., hands, feet, or fists; 2.5%); and hanging, strangulation, or suffocation (1.5%). Among all homicide victims, a house or apartment was the most common location of homicide (41%); followed by a street or highway (22%); a motor vehicle (10%); and a parking lot, public garage, or public transport (4.5%). Precipitating circumstances were identified in 69% of homicides. One-third of homicides with known circumstances were precipitated by an argument or conflict (34%), and 15% of homicides with known circumstances were related to [[intimate partner violence]]. Homicides also were commonly precipitated by another crime (23%); in 66% of those cases, the crime was in progress at the time of the incident like assault or homicide (38.9%), robbery (32.9%), drug trade (14.5%), burglary (11%), motor vehicle theft (5%), rape or sexual assault (2%). A larger proportion of homicides of females than males resulted from [[caregiver abuse]] or neglect (9.0% versus 2.7%) or were perpetrated by a suspect with a [[mental health problem]] (e.g., schizophrenia or other psychotic conditions, depression, or [[posttraumatic stress disorder]]) (6.3% versus 1.7%). Homicide rates are known to be higher in males and in communities with concentrated poverty, stressed economies, residential instability, neighborhood disorganization, low community cohesion, and informal controls. The overall firearm homicide rate in 2020 was higher than in the last 20 years, disproportionately borne by Native Americans and Black persons. It is thought that the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] increased social and economic stress.<ref name="mmwr">{{Cite journal |last=Liu |first=Grace S. |date=2023 |title=Surveillance for Violent Deaths — National Violent Death Reporting System, 48 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 2020 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/ss/ss7205a1.htm |journal=MMWR. Surveillance Summaries |language=en-us |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=1–38 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.ss7205a1 |pmid=37220104 |s2cid=258865008 |issn=1546-0738|pmc=10208308 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Crime clearance rate|Homicide clearance rate]]
* [[Homicide in world cities]]
* [[List of cities by homicide rate]]
* [[List of countries with annual rates and counts for killings by law enforcement officers]]
* [[List of types of killing]]
* [[List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate ]]
{{-}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Lappi-Seppälä, Tapio, and Martti Lehti. "Cross-comparative perspectives on global homicide trends". ''Crime and Justice'' 43.1 (2014): 135–230.
* Pinker, Steven. ''The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined'' (2011).

== External links ==
{{wikimedia|collapsible=true|c=Category:Homicide|d=Q149086|wikt=homicide}}

{{Portal-inline|Law}}

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[[Category:Homicide| ]]
[[Category:Causes of death]]
[[Category:Crimes]]
[[Category:Killings by type]]