According to the 2015 statistics from the United Nations, Scotland is the world’s assault capital. Data showed that there is a huge possibility of being physically attacked in Scotland than anywhere else around the world.
The Scottish Government is none too pleased about it, as it paints Scotland as worse than notorious crime hotspots such as Columbia, Mexico and El Salvador. It even kicked Honduras off the top spot on the list of the most dangerous place in the world. Compared to Denmark, Ireland and Norway, Scotland’s assault rate is still higher.
According to Scottish Conservative justice spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell, the revelation “sends out the worst possible image of Scotland”.
A report from the United Nations office of Drugs and Crimes claimed that serious bodily injury is highest in the country. In 2013 alone, nearly 1,200 people per 100,000 were assaulted, a figure that is twice as high in England, and seven times the average when all data on physical assault from all over the world are combined.
Honduras only recorded 21 cases of serious bodily injury per 100,000 of the population, while Columbia logged at 172. Scotland’s 1,200 is just too high.
Mitchell urged the SNP government to immediately address the issue to ensure the safety of all Scots, and provide “assurance that Scotland is a safe place to live in”.
The Scottish Government wanted to find out if the figures for each country were compared like to like. A spokesman said that making cross-country comparisons based on statistics is incorrect, because each country define offences, and count and record crimes and offences differently from that of Scotland.
80 countries were used as the basis in the UN research, including poor countries in South America, North America, Asia and Africa.
Casual violence has been linked by critics to the culture of alcohol abuse, which is so prevalent in Scotland.