American youths aged 12-17 made up approximately 10 percent of the population in 1994, yet they represented the victim in about one out of every four crimes. ("Understanding Violent Juvenile Offenders". National Violence Prevention Conference Program, 1994. Des Moines, IA.)

In 1994, two-thirds of victims between the ages of 12 and 19 were attacked by someone between the ages of 12 and 20; of these crimes, 83 percent were assaults and involved the use of weapons and resulted serious injury in 27 percent of attacks. (National Crime Victimization Survey, 1994. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, D.C.)

Guns accounted for 82 percent of homicides committed by juveniles in 1994. Four times as many juveniles were killed with a gun in 1994 than in 1984. ("Morbidity and Mortality Among U.S. Adolescents: An Overview of Data and Trends". American Journal of Public Heath, Vol. 86(4).)

Four of every five delinquency cases involved a male juvenile. Juvenile males accounted for 77 percent of person offense cases, 79 percent of property offense cases, and 86 percent of drug law violations in 1994. ("Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Courts, 1994". U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, D.C., 1996.)

Juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses increased by 55 percent for females versus 33 percent for males in

Follow-up studies of children who had cases of substantiated abuse or neglect found that 26 percent of the children were later arrested as juveniles. ("Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse - Later Criminal Consequences, Research in Brief", March 1995. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C.)

Forty-two percent of runaway youth report that while living on the street and/or in shelters they have been robbed; 43 percent assaulted; 22 percent sexually victimized; and 28 percent traded sex for money, food or housing. ("Youth with Runaway, Throwaway and Homeless Experiences: Prevalence, Drug Use and Other At-Risk Behaviors", 1995. U.S. Health and Human Services Department, Washington, D.C.)

The proportion of serious violent incidents that resulted in injury was the same for juveniles (35 percent) as for adults (36 percent) in 1991. (Snyder, Howard & Melissa Sickmund,"Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A Focus on Violence," Statistics Summary, May 1995. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, D.C.)

Note: OVC makes no representation concerning the accuracy of data from non-Department of Justice sources.