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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Violence Prevention

Goal: Prevent violence and related injuries and deaths.

A group of teens sits around a picnic table and talks.

Almost 20,000 people die from homicide every year in the United States,1 and many more people are injured by violence.2 Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing different types of violence.

Many people in the United States experience physical assaults, sexual violence, and gun-related injuries. Adolescents are especially at risk for experiencing violence. Interventions to reduce violence are needed to keep people safe in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.

Children who experience violence are at risk for long-term physical, behavioral, and mental health problems. Strategies to protect children from violence can help improve their health and well-being later in life.

Objective Status

  • 4 Target met or exceeded
  • 0 Improving
  • 2 Little or no detectable change
  • 5 Getting worse
  • 2 Baseline only
  • 6 Developmental
  • 1 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Violence Prevention — General

Increase the number of states where a child fatality team reviews external causes of death in children — IVP‑D01
Developmental
Reduce the number of young adults who report 3 or more adverse childhood experiences — IVP‑D03
Developmental
Reduce intimate partner violence — IVP‑D04
Developmental
Reduce contact sexual violence — IVP‑D05
Developmental
Reduce homicides — IVP‑09
LHI label
Getting worse
Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal intentional self-harm injuries — IVP‑19
Little or no detectable change

Adolescents

Reduce physical fighting among adolescents — IVP‑11
Target met or exceeded
Reduce gun carrying among adolescents — IVP‑12
Target met or exceeded
Reduce adolescent sexual violence by anyone — IVP‑17
Getting worse
Reduce sexual or physical adolescent dating violence — IVP‑18
Getting worse
Reduce the rate of minors and young adults committing violent crimes — AH‑10
Baseline only
Reduce the proportion of public schools with a serious violent incident — AH‑D03
Developmental
Reduce the rate of adolescent and young adult victimization from violent crimes — AH‑R11
Research

Children

Reduce nonfatal child abuse and neglect — IVP‑16
Target met or exceeded
Reduce child abuse and neglect deaths — IVP‑15
Getting worse
Increase the number of states where a child fatality team reviews sudden and unexpected deaths in infants — IVP‑D02
Developmental

Injury Prevention

Reduce nonfatal physical assault injuries — IVP‑10
Little or no detectable change
Reduce firearm-related deaths — IVP‑13
Getting worse
Reduce nonfatal firearm-related injuries — IVP‑14
Baseline only

Workplace

Reduce work-related assaults — OSH‑05
Target met or exceeded

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References

1.

Kochanek, K.D, Murphy, S.L, Xu, J., Arias E. (2019). Deaths: Final data for 2017. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf [PDF - 1.8 MB]

2.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Key Injury and Violence Data. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html