* Since the last assessment in 2024, updated information became available that required a change in the baseline and target.
EOB 2024-2025
IMPACT INDICATOR
Mortality rate due to homicide among youths 15-24 years of age
Baseline
2015
34.24 deaths per 100 000 youths 15–24 years of age*
Target
2025
32.2 deaths per 100 000 youths 15–24 years of age*
Status
2021
33.22 deaths per 100 000 youths 15–24 years of age
Rating
Stagnating
% annual change required to achieve target
-0.62%
% annual change recorded as of last year available
-0.50%
Violence is a major public health issue because of its profound impact on health and well-being. Among all forms of violence, homicide is the most devastating, as it results in avoidable loss of life. Adolescents and young adults are disproportionately affected, and homicide remains one of the leading causes of death in this age group in the Americas.
Between 2000 and 2021, the regional homicide mortality rate among youths aged 15–24 years fluctuated, with an overall modest decline of approximately 4.0%, from 34.6 to 33.2 deaths per 100 000 in this age group. Since the baseline year of 2015, when the rate was 34.2, the average annual reduction was approximately 0.5%. The projected value for 2025 is 33.0 deaths per 100 000 population aged 15-24 years, representing only a slight improvement compared to 2021 and remaining 2.4% above the 2025 target of 32.2. Progress under this indicator is therefore considered to be stagnating.
Youth homicide continues to be a major public health issue in the Americas, driven primarily by social and structural determinants rather than individual or biomedical factors. Young males are disproportionately affected, reflecting broader social norms and greater exposure to violence. Analyses of homicide data in Latin America and the Caribbean suggest that although homicide rates among adolescent males have declined somewhat in recent years, they remain comparatively high. At the same time, homicide rates among adolescent girls have worsened, doubling between 2021 and 2022.
Homicide is only the tip of the iceberg of violence in the Americas. Interpersonal violence takes many equally unacceptable forms, which often intersect and are mutually reinforcing. Exposure to violence frequently begins early in life. Reducing the likelihood that a child witnesses violence between parents decreases the likelihood of that individual perpetuating or experiencing violence later in life. Exposure to family violence, child maltreatment, bullying, dating violence, and sexual violence has been linked to other forms of violence in later life. This cycle can be broken.
Multisectoral, prevention-oriented approaches aligned with existing guidance, particularly the INSPIRE framework, emphasize the need to address the determinants of violence, fostering protective environments, investing in education, reducing socioeconomic disparities, and strengthening health system responses, as well as engaging parents, caregivers, communities, and young people. A central component of the prevention agenda is addressing the normalization of violence and shifting social norms away from the acceptance of violence in all its forms.
Recommendations
Advocate for violence prevention and response to be incorporated in health policies, protocols, and budgets.
Strengthen health system responses to violence, including the early identification of at-risk groups and referral to appropriate support services before violence escalates.
Boost investment in evidence-based policies and interventions aligned with a public health approach to violence prevention, including the interventions outlined in the INSPIRE framework.
Improve multisectoral coordination at the regional, national, and local levels, bringing together all relevant stakeholders, including the health sector, to prevent violence in all its forms.
Expand the evidence base on the scale, consequences, and risk factors of violence, and effective approaches for prevention, and promote the use of this evidence in policy and practice.