Although the number of people murdered in 2012 has decreased with 16 % compared to 2000, violence still remains widespread in the world.

This became clear by the publication of the Global Status Report on Violence Prevention by the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday.

According to the report, 475 000 people were murdered in 2012, with homicide representing the third leading cause of death globally for males aged between 15 and 44 years.

Women and children are the victims most to suffer from non-fatal acts of violence, as one in four children has been physically abused, one in five girls has been sexually abused, while one in three women has been a victim of physical violence at some point of her life.

The report is the first of its kind to reflect national efforts to address interpersonal violence such as child maltreatment, youth violence, sexual violence and elder abuse at home, school and communities.

The survey is the joint work of three UN agencies - the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The report contains data from 133 countries, covering 6.1 billion people and represents 88 % of the world's population.

There are individual country profiles which show the extent to which key violence prevention programmes, laws and services are being implemented.

It is intended to serve as a benchmark for governments, helping them to identify gaps and take further actions.

It becomes evident from the report that only one third of the surveyed countries are implementing large-scale initiatives to prevent violence, such as bullying prevention programmes, visits by nurses to families at risk, and support for carers of older people.

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