Murder and manslaughter in the big cities

Violent attacks claimed 180 fatal victims in the Netherlands in 2000. One year previously the number was significantly higher at 203. In the years 1996-2000 a total of nearly one thousand people in the Netherlands were killed in incidents of violent abuse.

Victims of violence by age, 1996-2000

'Average' victim: young and male

The risk of being murdered in the space of five years is nearly 0.01 percent. It is not equal for everyone. Men are more often victims of violent attacks than women: seven out of ten victims are male. People in their twenties, and to a lesser extent those in their thirties and forties, have a slightly higher chance of being killed. At higher ages the risk is lower. The over 75s have a slightly higher risk, probably because they are more vulnerable. Children have the lowest risk of being killed.

Dangerous places months and days

Amsterdam and Rotterdam have the highest numbers of murder and manslaughter victims. In the five years up to 2000, 134 inhabitants of Amsterdam, 109 inhabitants of Rotterdam and 63 inhabitants of The Hague were killed in violent attacks. In the large cities the risk is more than four times as high as in the small cities. But it is still lower than 0.02 percent for a period of five years.

In four in ten cases statistics provide no information on where the murder took place. Of the locations that are known, the own home is the most frequent, followed by the public highway. The number of murders and manslaughter cases are highest in the summer months June, July and August. Some fifteen percent more people are killed in these months than on average. October and December are the months with the lowest number of victims, about twenty percent fewer than average. People are also thirty percent more likely to be killed in a weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) or on a Wednesday than on a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.

Andries de Jong