The Situation and Trends of Violent Crime in the European Union

Purpose of the study. For the purpose of criminological knowledge of modern violent crime it seems necessary to carry out comparative study. It is thought that the use of the results of comparative legal research will allow to get a holistic criminological view of the state of violent crime. In this regard, trends in index violent crime in the countries of the European Union, in general, and in Germany, France and Italy, in particular, were identified as the subject of the study. The aim of the study is to determine the status and trends of selected types of violent crime in the countries of the European Union. Conclusions. The comparative study was complicated by differences in criminal legislation in the European Union countries and Russia, as well as in the reporting systems and practices of registering crimes and offenses. As a result of the analysis of official statistical data presented on the Eurostat website and data from victimization studies, it was found that during the study period from 2008 to 2019 in the European Union countries as well as in Russia [6], the lowest number of homicides was registered in 2019, with women being their victims in 36% of cases. At the same time, 2019 saw an increase in assaults and sexual violence. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in France, against the background of a decrease in violent crime rates, there was an increase in the recorded facts of domestic violence and rape, which is explained by scientists' changes in the approach of the police authorities to the processing of claims of violence. We conclude that restrictive measures implemented in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic have had only a temporary effect on the registered part of violent crime in foreign countries, just as in Russia.

prevention, violent crime, murder, rape, sexual assault, injury, assault, abuse