Category Archives: Crime

Bribes Around the World

where the bribes areThe Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 was enacted for the purpose of making it illegal for individuals or entities to make payments to foreign government officials in order to obtain business in a particular country. So far about 200 FCPA violations have been covered in 80 countries.

The darker the color of a country on the map above, the larger the FCPA violations in that country. FCPA violations have been found in different economic sectors: energy, manufacturing, agriculture, consulting, health and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, defense and aerospace, and infrastructure.

The country with the largest number of FCPA violations is Nigeria, with the majority of bribery cases in the energy sector. Nigeria is followed by Argentina, China, Russia, Iran, and Iraq.

For the interactive map and links to documentation for every FCPA violation, please visit: The Mintz Group: Where the Bribes Are – Penalties in U.S. Government FCPA Cases Since 1977

 

Deaths from Organized Internal Conflict

deaths from organized internal conflictThe number of deaths as a result of internal armed conflicts has increased dramatically from 37,300 back in 2007 to 178,300 in 2012. Internal conflict is defined as armed conflict between two parties, one of which is the government of that country.

For 2012, the largest number of deaths have occurred in Syria (40.9%), Libya (17.3%), Mexico (14.2%), and Pakistan (5.2%). The areas of major conflict have switched from Iraq and Afghanistan back in 2007 to Syria and Libya in 2012.

Source: The Economist: Syria v Libya v Iraq – A numerical evaluation of recent conflict

 

Violence Against Women by World Region

violence against womenIn this chart published by The Economist we look at two sets of data about violence against women.

The first one shows that more than a third (39%) of homicides of women around the world are committed by a previous or current partner. The numbers are specially shocking for South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore). The numbers are also high for Latin American and African countries.

The second set of data shows that 30% of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime by a former or current partner. The numbers are the highest for Central African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda),  followed by countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, etc.), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), the Middle East, and North Africa.

 

Journalism: A Dangerous Profession

Journalism is a very dangerous profession. Many journalists are killed every year around the world while covering everything from business and sports to revolutions, wars, political upheavals, corruption, human rights violations and more.

In 2012 alone, 103 journalists were killed around the globe. Motives were confirmed for 70 of them. The deadliest countries for journalists in 2012 were Syria (28 deaths), Somalia (12 deaths), Pakistan (7 deaths), and Brazil (4 deaths). The motives where the confirmed in these cases.

The way journalists are killed, range from crossfire or combat to murder. Impunity is a shocking 100% for murder cases. More detail in the chart below:

For additional information, including the list of the journalists killed in 2012, visit: Committee to Protect Journalists: 70 Journalists Killed in 2012/Motive Confirmed

 

Chicago: A City of Guns

click to enlargeChicago is the only city in the United States with tough gun control laws. Gun shops are prohibited, and so are shootings ranges. It is illegal for private citizens to carry guns in public places. Despite this fact, Chicago has experienced a high number of gun-related deaths, 500 homicides in 2012 and so far 40 in the first month of 2013.

Guns recovered by the Chicago police in the last twelve years came mainly from the within the state of Illinois, followed by the states of Indiana, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. Overall, the provenance of guns confiscated in Chicago pointed to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Resource: The New York Times: Where 50,000 Guns Recovered in Chicago Came From

 

Trafficking of Females

trafficking of females

Although statistics about trafficking of females are unreliable due to a number of reasons, starting with the clandestine nature of the activity, the WomanStats Project has managed to gather one of the most comprehensive data sets to date about the issue. One of the maps they produced, displayed above, illustrates the magnitude of the problem worldwide. You may find it shocking that in this day and age trafficking is not illegal and is even common in several countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. To find out more about the issue, and find out what you can do to help, visit the Stop Violence Against Women site.

The Gun Lobby in the U.S.

While the debate goes on in Congress regarding gun control, it is interesting to see that many members of Congress that will be voting on the issue, received donations from no other than the National Rifle Association (NRA). On the graphic above, compiled by the Washington Post, we can see that the party that benefited the most from NRA donations in 2012 was the Republican party.

Recipients of NRA donations are selected by the NRA based on a grading system that includes how a particular Congress member supported the NRA on gun issues in the past.

For the interactive graphic that allows you to check for names of candidates that received financial contributions by the NRA visit: The Washington Post: How the NRA exerts influence over Congress

 

The World’s Deadliest Cities

World's Deadliest Cities

The excellent data blog from The Guardian created an interactive visualization showing murder rates in the world’s most populous cities. The data, obtained from the UN, shows that Caracas, Guatemala City, and Basseterre have the highest homicide rates, while Lisbon, Ljubljana, and Tokyo have the lowest. You can read more details about their analysis in the accompanying article.

Rape Statistics by Country

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The UN Office on Drugs and Crime compiles rape statistics from countries around the world. We used their most recent numbers to create the map displayed above, which shows the number of rapes reported to police per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the UN data, the country with the highest rate of reported rapes is Botswana (92.9), while the country with the lowest rate is Egypt (0.1). Note though that comparison of crime rates across countries needs to be be taken with a grain of salt, since in some countries the population may be reluctant to report certain types of crimes to the police. You can read more about how the UN compiles crime statistics at its website.

 

Gun-Related Deaths vs. Gun Ownership in the U.S.

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According to data from The Violence and Policy Center, the death rate by firearms in the U.S. is 10.19 per 100,000 people. Data from Gallup puts gun ownership at 34% nationwide. States with higher percentage of gun ownership also show a high number of deaths by firearms. Louisiana ranks 1 in number of deaths by firearms at 18.03 per 100,000, and 13 in gun ownership at 45.6%. Wyoming ranks 2 in number of deaths by firearms at 17.64 per 100,000, and 2 in gun ownership at 62.8%. These states are followed by Montana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nevada, Tennessee and Alaska. In comparison, Massachusetts ranks 50 in number of deaths by firearms at 3.14 per 100,000 (lowest of all fifty states), and 48 in gun ownership at 12.8%. Hawaii fares well, ranking 49 in number of deaths by firearms, and 50 in gun ownership at 9.7% (the lowest of all fifty states).

See interactive map at: Aljazeera.com – Interactive: US, Yemen lead the world in guns