Violence is the "threatened or actual use of physical force or power against another person, against oneself, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, or deprivation."1

• In the United States, injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for people aged 1 to 34 years.2
   
• Approximately 84% of all deaths among adolescents aged 10-24 years are attributed to injuries from only four causes: motor vehicle crashes (37%), all other unintentional injuries (16%), homicide (18%), and suicide (13%).2 Highly associated with these injuries are adolescent behaviors such as physical fights, carrying weapons, making a suicide plan, and not using seatbelts.
   
• In 2005, 36% of high school students had been in a physical fight in the past 12 months, 19% had carried a weapon in the past 30 days, 13% had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the past 12 months, and 10% never or rarely wore a seat belt when riding in a car.3
   
• An estimated 302,100 women and 92,700 men are forcibly raped each year in the United States. More than half (54%) of the female rape victims were less than 18 years of age, and 22% were less than 12 years of age when they were first raped.4

This information is from the CDC Healthy Youth! Adolescent Health Website.

---

References:

1.        Foege WH, Rosenberg ML, Mercy JA. Public health and violence prevention. Current Issues in Public Health 1995;1:2–9.

2.        Minino AM, Anderson RN, Fingerhut LA, Boudreault MA, Warner M. Deaths:  Injuries, 2002.  National Vital Statistics Reports; 54(10): 1-125.

3.        CDC. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2005 [pdf 300K]. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2006;55(SS-5):1–108. Accessed June 8, 2006.

4.        Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Report for grant 93-IJ-CX-0012, funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Washington (DC): National Institute of Justice; 2000.

6.        J.H. Hedlund, R.G. Ulmer, D.F. Preusser. Determine Why There Are Fewer Young Alcohol-Impaired Drivers. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 2001 [Report Number DOT HS 809 348].

7.        Fellows JL, Trosclair A, Adams EK, Rivera CC. Annual smoking attributable mortality, years of potential life lost and economic costs: United States 1995-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51:300-303.

8.        Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Summary of findings from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume II. Technical appendices and selected data tables. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002;NHSDA Series H-18;DHHS publication no. (SMA) 02-3759.

9.        CDC. Office on Smoking and Health, 2002 calculations based upon: Smoking attributable mortality and years of potential life loss—United States, 1984. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1997;46:444-451.

10.     CDC. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2005 [pdf 300K]. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2006;55(SS-5):1–108.