Homicide in Denmark 1992–2016

Abstract

We present the findings for homicides in Denmark for 1992–2016. There were 1417 homicide victims (62.2% males, 37.8% females) that were killed in 1321 homicide events. The most common methods were sharp force trauma (33.2%), gunshot (22.2%), blunt force trauma (21.9%) and asphyxia (17.6%), and all methods exhibited a reduction during the study period. The homicide rate was 1.05 per 100,000, 1.32 per 100,000 for males, and 0.78 per 100,000 for females.Domestic homicides were the largest main group of homicides (76.5% of all female victims vs. 23.6% of male victims). Of the non-domestic homicides, 84.2% of victims were male, the largest group being in the setting of nightlife and/or intoxication. Most female victims (76.9%) were killed by someone in their family, while the largest share of male victims (34.5%) were killed by a friend or acquaintance. The offenders were males in 87.9% of all homicides. Keywords: Homicide, Interpersonal violence, Forensic pathology