U.N. rates of physical violence resulting in death, per 100,000 inhabitants by country in 2002.^[1]

no data	less than 200
200-400	400-600
600-800	800-1000
1000-1200	1200-1400
1400-1600	1600-1800
1800-2000	2000-3000
more than 3000

Violence is defined by the World Health Organization as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.^[2] This definition associates intentionality with the committing of the act itself, irrespective of the outcome it produces.

Globally, violence takes the lives of more than 1.5 million people annually: just over 50% due to suicide, some 35% due to homicide, and just over 12% as a direct result of war or some other form of conflict. For each single death due to violence, there are dozens of hospitalizations, hundreds of emergency department visits, and thousands of doctors' appointments.^[3] Furthermore, violence often has life-long consequences for victims' physical and mental health and social functioning and can slow economic and social development.

Violence, however, is preventable. Evidence shows strong relationships between levels of violence and potentially modifiable factors such as concentrated poverty, income and gender inequality, the harmful use of alcohol, and the absence of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and parents. Scientific research shows that strategies addressing the underlying causes of violence can be effective in preventing violence. Examples of scientifically credible strategies to prevent violence include nurse home-visiting and parenting education to prevent child maltreatment; life skills training for children ages 6–18 years; school-based programmes to address gender norms and attitudes; reducing alcohol availability and misuse through enactment and enforcement of liquor licensing laws, taxation and pricing; reducing access to guns and knives; and promoting gender equality by, for instance, supporting the economic empowerment of women.^[4]

Definition[link]

In the above definition of violence ("the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation) the inclusion of the word ‘‘power,’’ in addition to the phrase "use of physical force," broadens the nature of a violent act and expands the conventional understanding of violence to include those acts that result from a power relationship, including threats and intimidation. The "use of power" also serves to include neglect or acts of omission, in addition to the more obvious violent acts of commission. Thus, "the use of physical force or power" should be understood to include neglect and all types of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, as well as suicide and other self-abusive acts.

This definition covers a broad range of outcomes – including psychological harm, deprivation and maldevelopment. This reflects a growing recognition of the need to include violence that does not necessarily result in injury or death, but that nonetheless poses a substantial burden on individuals, families, communities and health care systems worldwide. Many forms of violence against women, children and the elderly, for instance, can result in physical, psychological and social problems that do not necessarily lead to injury, disability or death. These consequences can be immediate, as well as latent, and can last for years after the initial abuse. Defining outcomes solely in terms of injury or death thus limits the understanding of the full impact of violence on individuals, communities and society at large.^[2]

Typology of violence[link]

In the typology of violence^[2] in the figure below, the horizontal array shows who is affected and the vertical array describes how they are affected. The typology divides violence into three broad categories according to characteristics of those committing the violent act:

• self-directed violence
• interpersonal violence
• collective violence

The nature of violent acts, on the vertical axis, can be:

• physical
• sexual
• psychological
• involving deprivation or neglect

Typology of violence

This initial categorization differentiates between violence a person inflicts upon himself or herself, violence inflicted by another individual or by a small group of individuals, and violence inflicted by larger groups such as states, organized political groups, militia groups and terrorist organizations. These three broad categories are each divided further to reflect more specific types of violence.

Self-directed violence[link]

Self-directed violence is subdivided into suicidal behavior and self-abuse. The former includes suicidal thoughts, attempted suicides – also called ‘‘para suicide’’ or ‘‘deliberate self-injury’’ in some countries – and completed suicides. Self-abuse, in contrast, includes acts such as self-mutilation.

Interpersonal violence[link]

Interpersonal violence is divided into two subcategories: Family and intimate partner violence – that is, violence largely between family members and intimate partners, usually, though not exclusively, taking place in the home. Community violence – violence between individuals who are unrelated, and who may or may not know each other, generally taking place outside the home. The former group includes forms of violence such as child abuse, intimate partner violence and abuse of the elderly. The latter includes youth violence, random acts of violence, rape or sexual assault by strangers, and violence in institutional settings such as schools, workplaces, prisons and nursing homes.

Collective violence[link]

Collective violence is subdivided into social, political and economic violence. Unlike the other two broad categories, the subcategories of collective violence suggest possible motives for violence committed by larger groups of individuals or by states. Collective violence that is committed to advance a particular social agenda includes, for example, crimes of hate committed by organized groups, terrorist acts and mob violence. Political violence includes war and related violent conflicts, state violence and similar acts carried out by larger groups. Economic violence includes attacks by larger groups motivated by economic gain – such as attacks carried out with the purpose of disrupting economic activity, denying access to essential services, or creating economic division and fragmentation. Clearly, acts committed by larger groups can have multiple motives.

This typology, while imperfect and far from being universally accepted, does provide a useful framework for understanding the complex patterns of violence taking place around the world, as well as violence in the everyday lives of individuals, families and communities. It also overcomes many of the limitations of other typologies by capturing the nature of violent acts, the relevance of the setting, the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, and – in the case of collective violence – possible motivations for the violence. However, in both research and practice, the dividing lines between the different types of violence are not always so clear.

Magnitude, distribution and consequences of violence[link]

Violence in all its forms accounts for over 1.5 million deaths a year, some 90% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. This total can be broken down into 52% (or 782'000) due to suicide, 35.5% (or 535'000) due to homicide, and just over 12% (182'000) as a direct result of war or some other form of conflict.^[5] Thus, most of the deaths due to violence occur in settings which are at peace and most perpetrators are the victims themselves or people who are close to the victim such as parents, intimate partners, friends, and acquaintances.

By way of comparison, the 1.5 millions deaths a year due to violence is greater than the number of deaths due to tuberculosis (1.34 million), road traffic injuries (1.21 million), and malaria (830'000), but slightly less than the number of people who die from HIV/AIDS (1.77 million).^[6]

For every death due to violence, there are numerous nonfatal injuries. In 2008, over 16 million cases of non-fatal violence-related injuries were severe enough to require medical attention. Beyond deaths and injuries, forms of violence such as child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and elder maltreatment have been found to be highly prevalent.

Self-directed violence[link]

In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15–44 years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10–24 years age group. These figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide. Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death worldwide in 2004 and is projected to increase to the 12th in 2030.^[7] Although traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries.

Interpersonal violence[link]

Rates and patterns of violent death vary by country and region. In recent years, homicide rates have been highest in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean and lowest in East Asia, the western Pacific, and some countries in northern Africa.^[8] Studies show a strong, inverse relationship between homicide rates and both economic development and economic equality. Poorer countries, especially those with large gaps between the rich and the poor, tend to have higher rates of homicide than wealthier countries. Homicide rates differ markedly by age and sex. Gender differences are least marked for children. For the 15 to 29 age group, male rates were nearly six times those for female rates; for the remaining age groups, male rates were from two to four times those for females.^[9]

Studies in a number of countries show that, for every homicide among young people age 10 to 24, 20 to 40 other young people receive hospital treatment for a violent injury.^[2]

Forms of violence such as child maltreatment and intimate partner violence are highly prevalent. Approximately 20% of women and 5–10% of men report being sexually abused as children, while 25–50% of all children report being physically abused.^[10] A WHO multi-country study found that between 15–71% of women reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives^[11]

Collective violence[link]

Wars grab headlines, but the individual risk of dying violently in an armed conflict is today relatively low—much lower than the risk of violent death in many countries that are not suffering from an armed conflict. Although there is a widespread perception that war is the most dangerous form of armed violence in the world, the average person living in a conflict-affected country had a risk of dying violently in the conflict of about 2.0 per 100,000 population between 2004 and 2007. This can be compared to the average world homicide rate of 7.6 per 100,000 people. This illustration highlights the value of accounting for all forms of armed violence rather than an exclusive focus on conflict related violence. Certainly, there are huge variations in the risk of dying from armed conflict at the national and subnational level, and the risk of dying violently in a conflict in specific countries remains extremely high. In Iraq, for example, the direct conflict death rate for 2004–07 was 65 per 100,000 people per year and, in Somalia, 24 per 100,000 people. This rate even reached peaks of 91 per 100,000 in Iraq in 2006 and 74 per 100,000 in Somalia in 2007.^[12]

Consequences and costs[link]

Beyond deaths and injuries, highly prevalent forms of violence (such as child maltreatment and intimate partner violence) have serious life-long non-injury health consequences. Victims may engage in high-risk behaviours such as alcohol and substance misuse, smoking, and unsafe sex, which in turn can contribute to cardiovascular disorders, cancers, depression, diabetes and HIV/AIDS, resulting in premature death^[13]

In countries with high levels of violence, economic growth can be slowed down, personal and collective security eroded, and social development impeded. Families edging out of poverty and investing in schooling their sons and daughters can be ruined through the violent death or severe disability of the main breadwinner. Communities can be caught in poverty traps where pervasive violence and deprivation form a vicious circle that stifles economic growth. For societies, meeting the direct costs of health, criminal justice, and social welfare responses to violence diverts many billions of dollars from more constructive societal spending. The much larger indirect costs of violence due to lost productivity and lost investment in education work together to slow economic development, increase socioeconomic inequality, and erode human and social capital.

Causes of violence[link]

Violence cannot be attributed to a single factor. Its causes are complex and occur at different levels. To represent this complexity, the ecological, or Social ecological model is often used. The following four-level version of the ecological is often used in the study of violence:

The first level identifies biological and personal factors that influence how individuals behave and increase their likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence: demographic characteristics (age, education, income), personality disorders, substance abuse, and a history of experiencing, witnessing, or engaging in violent behaviour.

The second level focuses on close relationships, such as those with family and friends. In youth violence, for example, having friends who engage in or encourage violence can increase a young person’s risk of being a victim or perpetrator of violence.31,32 For intimate partner violence, a consistent marker at this level of the model is marital conflict or discord in the relationship. In elder abuse, important factors are stress due to the nature of the past relationship between the abused person and the care giver.

The third level explores the community context—i.e., schools, workplaces, and neighbourhoods. Risk at this level may be affected by factors such as the existence of a local drug trade, the absence of social networks, and concentrated poverty. All these factors have been shown to be important in several types of violence.

Finally, the fourth level looks at the broad societal factors that help to create a climate in which violence is encouraged or inhibited: the responsiveness of the criminal justice system, social and cultural norms regarding gender roles or parent-child relationships, income inequality, the strength of the social welfare system, the social acceptability of violence, the availability of firearms, the exposure to violence in mass media, and political instability.

Prevention of violence[link]

The prevention of interpersonal violence[link]

A rigorous review of the literature on the effectiveness of strategies to prevent interpersonal violence identified the seven strategies below as being supported by either strong or emerging evidence for effectiveness.^[14] These strategies target risk factors at all four levels of the ecological model.

Developing safe, stable and nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers[link]

Among the most effective such programmes to prevent child maltreatment and reduce childhood aggression are the Nurse Family Partnership home-visiting programme^[15] and the Triple P (Parenting Program).^[16] There is also emerging evidence that these programmes reduce convictions and violent acts in adolescence and early adulthood, and probably help decrease intimate partner violence and self-directed violence in later life.^[17][18]

Developing life skills in children and adolescents[link]

Evidence shows that the life-skills acquired in social development programmes can reduce involvement in violence, improve social skills, boost educational achievement and improve job prospects. Life skills refer to social, emotional, and behavioural competencies which help children and adolescents effectively deal with the challenges of everyday life.

Reducing the availability and harmful use of alcohol[link]

Evidence is emerging that violence may be prevented by:

• Reducing the availability of alcohol (e.g. by restricting hour or days of sale and raising alcohol prices);
• Brief interventions and longer-term treatment for problem drinkers;
• Improving the management of environments where alcohol is served (e.g. reducing crowding, increasing comfort levels, improving physical design and staff training).

Reducing access to guns[link]

Evidence emerging suggests that limiting access to firearms can prevent homicides and injuries and reduce the costs of these forms of violence to society. There is some evidence, for example, to suggest that jurisdictions with restrictive firearms legislation and lower firearms ownership tend to have lower levels of gun violence.^{[19][20][21][22]}

Promoting gender equality and challenging gender norms and roles to prevent violence against women[link]

Evaluation studies are beginning to support community interventions that aim to prevent violence against women by promoting gender equality. For instance, evidence suggests that programmes that combine microfinance with gender equity training can reduce intimate partner violence.^[23][24] School-based programmes such as Safe Dates programme in the United States of America^[25][26] and the Youth Relationship Project in Canada^[27] have been found to be effective for reducing dating violence.

Changing cultural and social norms that support violence[link]

Rules or expectations of behaviour – norms – within a cultural or social group can encourage violence. Interventions that challenge cultural and social norms supportive of violence can prevent acts of violence and have been widely used, but the evidence base for their effectiveness is currently weak. The effectiveness of interventions addressing dating violence and sexual abuse among teenagers and young adults by challenging social and cultural norms related to gender is supported by some evidence^[28][29]

Victim identification, care and support programmes[link]

Interventions to identify victims of interpersonal violence and provide effective care and support are critical for protecting health and breaking cycles of violence from one generation to the next. Examples for which evidence of effectiveness is emerging includes: screening tools to identify victims of intimate partner violence and refer them to appropriate services;^[30] psychosocial interventions – such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy – to reduce mental health problems associated with violence, including post-traumatic stress disorder;^[31] and protection orders, which prohibit a perpetrator from contacting the victim,^[32][33] to reduce repeat victimization among victims of intimate partner violence.

Interventions to prevent collective violence[link]

Not surprisingly, scientific evidence about the effectiveness of interventions to prevent collective violence is lacking.^[34] However, policies that facilitate reductions in poverty, that make decision-making more accountable, that reduce inequalities between groups, as well as policies that reduce access to biological, chemical, nuclear and other weapons have been recommended. When planning responses to violent conflicts, recommended approaches include assessing at an early stage who is most vulnerable and what their needs are, co-ordination of activities between various players and working towards global, national and local capabilities so as to deliver effective health services during the various stages of an emergency.^[35]

Suicide prevention[link]

Not all suicides can be prevented, but a majority can. There are a number of measures that can be taken at community and national levels to reduce the risk, including:

• reducing access to the means of suicide (e.g. pesticides, medication, guns);
• treating people with mental disorders (particularly those with depression, alcoholism, and schizophrenia);
• following-up people who made suicide attempts;
• responsible media reporting;
• training primary health care workers.

At a more personal level, it is important to know that only a small number of suicides happen without warning. Most people who kill themselves give definite warnings of their intentions. Therefore, all threats of self-harm should be taken seriously. In addition, a majority of people who attempt suicide are ambivalent and not entirely intent on dying. Many suicides occur in a period of improvement when the person has the energy and the will to turn despairing thoughts into destructive action. However, a once-suicidal person is not necessarily always at risk: suicidal thoughts may return but they are not permanent and in some people they may never return^[36]

Approaches to violence and violence prevention[link]

Criminal justice approach[link]

The criminal justice approach sees its main task as enforcing laws that proscribe violence and ensuring that "justice is done". The notions of individual blame, responsibility, guilt, and culpability are central to criminal justice's approach to violence and one of the criminal justice system's main tasks is to "do justice", i.e. to ensure that offenders are properly identified, that the degree of their guilt is as accurately ascertained as possible, and that they are punished appropriately. To prevent and respond to violence, the criminal justice approach relies primarily on deterrence, incarceration and the punishment and rehabilitation of perpetrators.^[37]

The criminal justice approach, beyond justice and punishment, has traditionally emphasized indicated interventions, aimed at those who have already been involved in violence, either as victims or as perpetrators. One of the main reasons offenders are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted is to prevent further crimes – through deterrence (threatening potential offenders with criminal sanctions if they commit crimes), incapacitation (physically preventing offenders from committing further crimes by locking them up) and through rehabilitation (using time spent under state supervision to develop skills or change one's psychological make-up to reduce the likelihood of future offences).^[38]

In recent decades in many countries in the world, the criminal justice system has taken an increasing interest in preventing violence before it occurs. For instance, much of community and problem-oriented policing aims to reduce crime and violence by altering the conditions that foster it - and not to increase the number of arrests. Indeed, some police leaders have gone so far as to say the police should primarily be a crime prevention agency [Bratton W (with Knobler P). Turnaround: how America's top cop reversed the crime epidemic. New York: Random House, 1998.]. Juvenile justice systems – an important component of criminal justice systems – are largely based on the belief in rehabilitation and prevention. In the US, the criminal justice system has, for instance, funded school- and community-based initiatives to reduce children's access to guns and teach conflict resolution. In 1974, the US Department of Justice assumed primary responsibility for delinquency prevention programmes and created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which has supported the "Blueprints for violence prevention" programme at the University of Colorado.^[39]

Public health approach[link]

The public health approach is a science-driven, population-based, interdisciplinary, intersectoral approach based on the ecological model which emphasizes primary prevention.^[2] Rather than focusing on individuals, the public health approach aims to provide the maximum benefit for the largest number of people, and to extend better care and safety to entire populations. The public health approach is interdisciplinary, drawing upon knowledge from many disciplines including medicine, epidemiology, sociology, psychology, criminology, education and economics. Because all forms of violence are multi-faceted problems, the public health approach emphasizes a multi-sectoral response. It has been proved time and again that cooperative efforts from such diverse sectors as health, education, social welfare, and criminal justice are often necessary to solve what are usually assumed to be purely "criminal" or "medical" problems. The public health approach considers that violence, rather than being the result of any single factor, is the outcome of multiple risk factors and causes, interacting at four levels of a nested hierarchy (individual, close relationship/family, community and wider society) of the Social ecological model.

From a public health perspective, prevention strategies can be classified into three types:

• Primary prevention – approaches that aim to prevent violence before it occurs.
• Secondary prevention – approaches that focus on the more immediate responses

to violence, such as pre-hospital care, emergency services or treatment for sexually transmitted infections following a rape.

• Tertiary prevention – approaches that focus on long-term care in the wake of violence, such as rehabilitation and reintegration, and attempt to lessen trauma or reduce long-term disability associated with violence.

A public health approach emphasizes the primary prevention of violence, i.e. stopping them from occurring in the first place. Until recently, this approach has been relatively neglected in the field, with the majority of resources directed towards secondary or tertiary prevention. Perhaps the most critical element of a public health approach to prevention is the ability to identify underlying causes rather than focusing upon more visible "symptoms". This allows for the development and testing of effective approaches to address the underlying causes and so improve health.

The public health approach is an evidence-based and systematic process involving the following four steps:

1. Defining the problem conceptually and numerically, using statistics that accurately describe the nature and scale of violence, the characteristics of those most affected, the geographical distribution of incidents, and the consequences of exposure to such violence.
2. Investigating why the problem occurs by determining its causes and correlates,the factors that increase or decrease the risk of its occurrence (risk and protective factors) and the factors that might be modifiable through intervention.
3. Exploring ways to prevent the problem by using the above information and designing, monitoring and rigorously assessing the effectiveness of programmes through outcome evaluations.
4. Disseminating information on the effectiveness of programmes and increasing the scale of proven effective programmes. Approaches to prevent violence, whether targeted at individuals or entire communities, must be properly evaluated for their effectiveness and the results shared. This step also includes adapting programmes to local contexts and subjecting them to rigorous re-evaluation to ensure their effectiveness in the new setting.

In many countries, violence prevention is still a new or emerging field in public health. The public health community has started only recently to realize the contributions it can make to reducing violence and mitigating its consequences. In 1949, Gordon called for injury prevention efforts to be based on the understanding of causes, in a similar way to prevention efforts for communicable and other diseases.^[40] In 1962, Gomez, referring to the WHO definition of health, stated that it is obvious that violence does not contribute to "extending life" or to a "complete state of well-being". He defined violence as an issue that public health experts needed to address and stated that it should not be the primary domain of lawyers, military personnel, or politicians.^[41]

However, it is only in the last 30 years that public health has begun to address violence, and only in the last fifteen has it done so at the global level.^[42] This is a much shorter period of time than public health has been tackling other health problems of comparable magnitude and with similarly severe life-long consequences.

The global public health response to interpersonal violence began in earnest in the mid-1990s. In 1996, the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA49.25^[43] which declared violence "a leading worldwide public health problem" and requested that the World Health Organization (WHO) initiate public health activities to (1) document and characterize the burden of violence, (2) assess the effectiveness of programmes, with particular attention to women and children and community-based initiatives, and (3) promote activities to tackle the problem at the international and national levels. The World Health Organization's initial response to this resolution was to create the Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability and to publish the World report on violence and health (2002).^[2]

The case for the public health sector addressing interpersonal violence rests on four main arguments.^[44] First, the significant amount of time health care professionals dedicate to caring for victims and perpetrators of violence has made them familiar with the problem and has led many, particularly in emergency departments, to mobilize to address it. The information, resources, and infrastructures the health care sector has at its disposal are an important asset for research and prevention work. Second, the magnitude of the problem and its potentially severe life-long consequences and high costs to individuals and wider society call for population-level interventions typical of the public health approach. Third, the criminal justice approach, the other main approach to addressing violence (link to entry above), has traditionally been more geared towards violence that occurs between male youths and adults in the street and other public places – which makes up the bulk of homicides in most countries – than towards violence occurring in private settings such as child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and elder abuse – which makes up the largest share of non-fatal violence. Fourth, evidence is beginning to accumulate that a science-based public health approach is effective at preventing interpersonal violence.

The human rights approach[link]

The Human rights approach is based on the obligations of states to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and therefore to prevent, eradicate and punish violence. It recognizes violence as a violation of many human rights: the rights to life, liberty, autonomy and security of the person; the rights to equality and non-discrimination; the rights to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right to privacy; and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. These human rights are enshrined in international and regional treaties and national constitutions and laws, which stipulate the obligations of states, and include mechanisms to hold states accountable. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, for example, requires that countries party to the Convention take all appropriate steps to end violence against women. The Convention on the Rights of the Childin its Article 19 states that States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

Geographical approaches[link]

A significant number of human geographers take violence as their substantive focus. Derek Gregory and Alan Pred assembled the influential edited collection "Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence", which demonstrates how place, space and landscape are foremost factors in the real and imagined practices of organized violence both historically and in the present.^[45] Relatedly, Simon Springer emphasizes the interconnectedness of violence by questioning those reductionist approaches that exclusively align violence to particular places, suggesting instead that violence is born of an overdetermined number of variables that stretch out across the wider matrix of space.^[46] Elsewhere, Springer expands on these ideas, arguing that "to treat the material expression of violence only through its directly observable manifestation is a reductionist appraisal. This view ignores the complexity of the infinite entanglements of social relations, and further neglects the future possibilities, or what Nordstrom (2004) calls ‘the tomorrow of violence’. When we bear witness to violence, what we are seeing is not a ‘thing’, but a moment with a past, present and future that is determined by its elaborate relations with other moments of social process. The material ‘act’ of violence itself is merely a nodal point, a snapshot of oppressive social relations, and one that has an enduring tendency to be marked with absolutist accounts of space and time, when in fact, violence is temporally dispersed through a whole series of ‘troubling geographies’".^[47]

Types of interpersonal violence[link]

Child maltreatment[link]

Child maltreatment is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age. It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Exposure to intimate partner violence is also sometimes included as a form of child maltreatment^[48]

Child maltreatment is a global problem with serious life-long consequences, which is, however, complex and difficult to study. There are no reliable global estimates for the prevalence of child maltreatment. Data for many countries, especially low- and middle-income countries, are lacking. Current estimates vary widely depending on the country and the method of research used. Approximately 20% of women and 5–10% of men report being sexually abused as children, while 25–50% of all children report being physically abused.^[2][49]

Consequences of child maltreatment include impaired lifelong physical and mental health, and social and occupational functioning (e.g. school, job, and relationship difficulties). These can ultimately slow a country's economic and social development.^[50][51] Preventing child maltreatment before it starts is possible and requires a multisectoral approach. Effective prevention programmes support parents and teach positive parenting skills. Ongoing care of children and families can reduce the risk of maltreatment reoccurring and can minimize its consequences.^[52][53]

Youth violence[link]

The Kids off the Block memorial featuring hundreds of simple stone blocks, one for each child killed by violence in Roseland, Chicago

Following the World Health Organization, youth are defined as people between the ages of 10 and 29 years. Youth violence refers to violence occurring between youths, and includes acts that range from bullying and physical fighting, through more severe sexual and physical assault to homicide.^[54]

Worldwide some 250 000 homicides occur among youth 10–29 years of age each year, which is 41% of the total number of homicides globally each year (("Global Burden of Disease", World Health Organization, 2008). For each young person killed, 20-40 more sustain injuries requiring hospital treatment.^[54] Youth violence has a serious, often lifelong, impact on a person's psychological and social functioning. Youth violence greatly increases the costs of health, welfare and criminal justice services; reduces productivity; decreases the value of property; and generally undermines the fabric of society.

Prevention programmes shown to be effective or to have promise in reducing youth violence include life skills and social development programmes designed to help children and adolescents manage anger, resolve conflict, and develop the necessary social skills to solve problems; schools-based anti-bullying prevention programmes; and programmes to reduce access to alcohol, illegal drugs and guns.^[55]

Domestic violence/intimate partner violence[link]

Intimate partner violence refers to behaviour in an intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviours.^[2]

Population-level surveys based on reports from victims provide the most accurate estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual violence in non-conflict settings. A study conducted by WHO in 10 mainly developing countries^[56] found that, among women aged 15 to 49 years, between 15% (Japan) and 70% (Ethiopia and Peru) of women reported physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

Intimate partner and sexual violence have serious short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for victims and for their children, and lead to high social and economic costs. These include both fatal and non-fatal injuries, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.^[57]

Factors associated with the perpetration and experiencing of intimate partner violence are low levels of education, past history of violence as a perpetrator, a victim or a witness of parental violence, harmful use of alcohol, attitudes that are accepting of violence as well as marital discord and dissatisfaction. Factor associated only with perpetration of intimate partner violence are having multiple partners, and an antisocial personality disorder.

The primary prevention strategy with the best evidence for effectiveness for intimate partner violence is school-based programming for adolescents to prevent violence within dating relationships.^[58] Evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of several other primary prevention strategies – those that: combine microfinance with gender equality training;^[59] promote communication and relationship skills within communities; reduce access to, and the harmful use of alcohol; and change cultural gender norms.^[60]

Sexual violence[link]

Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. It includes rape, defined as the physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration of the vulva or anus with a penis, other body part or object.^[61]

Population-level surveys based on reports from victims estimate that between 0.3–11.5% of women reported experiencing sexual violence.^[62] Sexual violence has serious short- and long-term consequences on physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health for victims and for their children as described in the section on intimate partner violence. If perpetrated during childhood, sexual violence can lead to increased smoking,^[63] drug and alcohol misuse, and risky sexual behaviours in later life. It is also associated with perpetration of violence (for males) and being a victim of violence (for females).

Many of the risk factors for sexual violence are the same as for intimate partner violence. Risk factors specific to sexual violence perpetration include beliefs in family honour and sexual purity, ideologies of male sexual entitlement and weak legal sanctions for sexual violence.

Few intervention to prevent sexual violence have been demonstrated to be effective. School-based programmes to prevent child sexual abuse by teaching children to recognize and avoid potentially sexually abusive situations are run in many parts of the world and appear promising, but require further research. To achieve lasting change, it is important to enact legislation and develop policies that protect women; address discrimination against women and promote gender equality; and help to move the culture away from violence.^[64]

Elder maltreatment[link]

Elder maltreatment is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person. This type of violence constitutes a violation of human rights and includes physical, sexual, psychological, emotional; financial and material abuse; abandonment; neglect; and serious loss of dignity and respect^[2]

While there is little information regarding the extent of maltreatment in elderly populations, especially in developing countries, it is estimated that 4-6% of elderly people in high-income countries have experienced some form of maltreatment at home^[65][66] However, older people are often afraid to report cases of maltreatment to family, friends, or to the authorities. Data on the extent of the problem in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are scarce. Elder maltreatment can lead to serious physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences. Elder maltreatment is predicted to increase as many countries are experiencing rapidly ageing populations.

Many strategies have been implemented to prevent elder maltreatment and to take action against it and mitigate its consequences including public and professional awareness campaigns, screening (of potential victims and abusers), caregiver support interventions (e.g. stress management, respite care), adult protective services and self-help groups. Their effectiveness has, however, not so far been well-established.^[67][68]

Suicide[link]

Collective violence[link]

See War.

Psychology[link]

The causes of violent behavior in humans are often a topic of research in psychology. Neurobiologist Jan Volavka emphasizes that for those purposes, "violent behavior is defined as intentional physically aggressive behavior against another person."^[69]

Scientists do agree violence is inherent in humans. Among prehistoric humans, there is archaeological evidence for both contentions of violence and peacefulness as primary characteristics.^[70]

Since violence is a matter of perception as well as a measurable phenomenon, psychologists have found variability in whether people perceive certain physical acts as 'violent'. For example, in a state where execution is a legalized punishment we do not typically perceive the executioner as 'violent', though we may talk, in a more metaphorical way, of the state acting violently. Likewise understandings of violence are linked to a perceived aggressor-victim relationship: hence psychologists have shown that people may not recognise defensive use of force as violent, even in cases where the amount of force used is significantly greater than in the original aggression.^[71]

The "violent male ape" image is often brought up in discussions of human violence. Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham in "Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence" write that violence is inherent in humans, though not inevitable. However, William L. Ury, editor of a book called "Must We Fight? From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard—A New Perspective on Violent Conflict and Its Prevention" criticizes the "killer ape" myth in his book which brings together discussions from two Harvard Law School symposiums. The conclusion is that "we also have lots of natural mechanisms for cooperation, to keep conflict in check, to channel aggression, and to overcome conflict. These are just as natural to us as the aggressive tendencies."^[72]

James Gilligan writes violence is often pursued as an antidote to shame or humiliation.^[73] The use of violence often is a source of pride and a defence of honor, especially among males who often believe violence defines manhood.^[74]

Steven Pinker in a New Republic article "The History of Violence" offers evidence that on the average the amount and cruelty of violence to humans and animals has decreased over the last few centuries.^[75]

Pinker's observation of the decline in interpersonal violence echoes the work of Norbert Elias, who attributes the decline to a 'civilizing process', in which the state's monopolisation of violence, the maintenance of socioeconomic interdependencies or 'figurations', and the maintenance of behavioural codes in culture all contribute to the development of individual sensibilities, which the increase repugnance individuals towards violent acts.^[76] Criminologist Steve Hall notes that the decline in violence in the West since the late 14th century has been accompanied by a large rise in less violent forms of acquisitive crime. In a complex process he names 'pseudo-pacification', he argues that the capitalist system and its attendant culture of competitive individualism stimulate aggressive libidinal energy but sublimate it into socially acceptable forms of competition over symbols of social status. This fuels consumer demand in the economy at the same time as creating and reproducing the pacified cultural climate needed for productive and trading relations to function properly. This powerful libidinal energy sometimes 'leaks' past its insulating boundary in social spaces where economic participation is difficult or behavioural codes are lax, with obvious criminogenic and potentially violent results.^[77]

Evolutionary psychology offers several explanations for human violence in various contexts. Goetz (2010) argues that humans are similar to most mammal species and use violence in specific situations. He writes that "Buss and Shackelford (1997a) proposed seven adaptive problems our ancestors recurrently faced that might have been solved by aggression: co-opting the resources of others, defending against attack, inflicting costs on same-sex rivals, negotiating status and hierarchies, deterring rivals from future aggression, deterring mate from infidelity, and reducing resources expended on genetically unrelated children."^[78]

Goetz writes that most homocides seem to start from relatively trivial disputes between unrelated men who then escalate to violence and death. He argues that such conflicts occur when there is a status dispute between men of relatively similar status. If there is a great initial status difference, then the lower status individual usually offers no challenge and if challenged the higher status individual usually ignores the lower status individual. At the same an environment of great inequalities between people may cause those at the bottom to use more violence in attempts to gain status.^[78]

Targeted violence[link]

Several rare but painful episodes of assassination, attempted assassination and shootings in schools and universities in the United States led to a considerable body of research on ascertainable behaviors of persons who have planned or carried out such attacks. These studies (1995-2002) investigated what the authors called "targeted violence," described the "path to violence" of those who planned or carried out attacks, and laid out suggestions for law enforcement and educators. A major point from these research studies is that targeted violence does not just "come out of the blue."^{[79][80][81][82][83][84]}

Drugs[link]

This section requires expansion.

Some legal drugs such as benzodiazepines may have adverse side effects that include violence.

Law[link]

One of the main functions of law is to regulate violence.^[85]

Sociologist Max Weber stated that the state claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of force practiced within the confines of a specific territory. Law enforcement is the main means of regulating nonmilitary violence in society. Governments regulate the use of violence through legal systems governing individuals and political authorities, including the police and military. Civil societies authorize some amount of violence, exercised through the police power, to maintain the status quo and enforce laws.

However, German political theorist Hannah Arendt noted: "Violence can be justifiable, but it never will be legitimate ... Its justification loses in plausibility the farther its intended end recedes into the future. No one questions the use of violence in self-defence, because the danger is not only clear but also present, and the end justifying the means is immediate".^[86] Arendt made a clear distinction between violence and power. Most political theorists regarded violence as an extreme manifestation of power whereas Arendt regarded the two concepts as opposites.^[87] In the 20th century in acts of democide governments may have killed more than 260 million of their own people through police brutality, execution, massacre, slave labor camps, and sometimes through intentional famine.^[88]

Violent acts that are not carried out by the military or police and that are not in self-defence are usually classified as crimes, although not all crimes are violent crimes. Damage to property is classified as violent crime in some jurisdictions but not in all.^{[citation needed]}

The Federal Bureau of Investigation classifies violence resulting in homicide into criminal homicide and justifiable homicide (e.g. self defense).^[89]

War[link]

A United States M8 Greyhound armored car in Paris during World War II

War is a state of prolonged violent large-scale conflict involving two or more groups of people, usually under the auspices of government. War is fought as a means of resolving territorial and other conflicts, as war of aggression to conquer territory or loot resources, in national self-defense, or to suppress attempts of part of the nation to secede from it.^{[citation needed]}

Since the Industrial Revolution, the lethality of modern warfare has steadily grown. World War I casualties were over 40 million and World War II casualties were over 70 million.

Nevertheless, some hold the actual deaths from war have decreased compared to past centuries. In War Before Civilization, Lawrence H. Keeley, a professor at the University of Illinois, calculates that 87% of tribal societies were at war more than once per year, and some 65% of them were fighting continuously. The attrition rate of numerous close-quarter clashes, which characterize endemic warfare, produces casualty rates of up to 60%, compared to 1% of the combatants as is typical in modern warfare. "Primitive Warfare" of these small groups or tribes was driven by the basic need for sustenance and violent competition. Their environment dictated the size of their groups for the most part, they would only include as many people as the tribe could provide for. The small group size also made moving much easier if needed, once resources were becoming scarce in the area.^[90] Stephen Pinker agrees, writing that "in tribal violence, the clashes are more frequent, the percentage of men in the population who fight is greater, and the rates of death per battle are higher."^[91]

Jared Diamond in his award-winning books, Guns, Germs and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee provides sociological and anthropological evidence for the rise of large scale warfare as a result of advances in technology and city-states. The rise of agriculture provided a significant increase in the number of individuals that a region could sustain over hunter-gatherer societies, allowing for development of specialized classes such as soldiers, or weapons manufacturers. On the other hand, tribal conflicts in hunter-gatherer societies tend to result in wholesale slaughter of the opposition (other than perhaps females of child-bearing years) instead of territorial conquest or slavery, presumably as hunter-gatherer numbers could not sustain empire-building.^{[citation needed]}

Religious and secular ideology[link]

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants, 1572

Religious and political ideologies have been the cause of interpersonal violence throughout history.^[92] Ideologues often falsely accuse others of violence, such as the ancient blood libel against Jews, the medieval accusations of casting witchcraft spells against women, caricatures of black men as "violent brutes" that helped excuse the late 19th century Jim Crow laws in the United States,^[93] and modern accusations of satanic ritual abuse against day care center owners and others.^[94]

Both supporters and opponents of the 21st century War on Terrorism regard it largely as an ideological and religious war.^[95]

Vittorio Bufacchi describes two different modern concepts of violence, one the "minimalist conception" of violence as an intentional act of excessive or destructive force, the other the "comprehensive conception" which includes violations of rights, including a long list of human needs.^[96]

Anti-capitalists assert that capitalism is violent. They believe private property, trade, interest and profit survive only because police violence defends them and that capitalist economies need war to expand.^[97] They may use the term "structural violence" to describe the systematic ways in which a given social structure or institution kills people slowly by preventing them from meeting their basic needs, for example the deaths caused by diseases because of lack of medicine.^[98] Free market supporters argue that it is violently enforced state laws intervening in markets - state capitalism - which cause many of the problems anti-capitalists attribute to structural violence.^[99]

Frantz Fanon critiqued the violence of colonialism and wrote about the counter violence of the "colonized victims."^{[100][101][102]}

Throughout history, most religions and individuals like Mahatma Gandhi have preached that humans are capable of eliminating individual violence and organizing societies through purely nonviolent means. Gandhi himself once wrote: "A society organized and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy."^[103] Modern political ideologies which espouse similar views include pacifist varieties of voluntarism, mutualism, anarchism and libertarianism.

Violence in the media[link]

Research into the media and violence examines whether links between consuming media violence and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior exists. Although some scholars had claimed media violence may increase aggression,^[104] this view is coming increasingly in doubt both in the scholarly community^[105] and was rejected by the US Supreme Court in the Brown v EMA case, as well as in a review of video game violence by the Australian Government (2010) which concluded evidence for harmful effects were inconclusive at best and the rhetoric of some scholars was not matched by good data.

Classification & nomenclature[link]

See also[link]

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Walter Benjamin's Critique of Violence
• Arno Gruen psychoanalyst who has written extensively on the origins of violence
• Flannery, D.J., Vazsonyi, A.T. & Waldman, I.D. (Eds.) (2007). The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60785-X.
• Gad Barzilai (2003). Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-11315-1.
• Nazaretyan, A.P. (2007). Violence and Non-Violence at Different Stages of World History: A view from the hypothesis of techno-humanitarian balance. In: History & Mathematics. Moscow: KomKniga/URSS. P.127-148. ISBN 978-5-484-01001-1.
• Siniša Malešević. The Sociology of War and Violence. Cambridge University Press; 2010 [cited October 17, 2011]. ISBN 978-0-521-73169-0.
• Springer, Simon. (2011). Violence sits in places? Cultural practice, neoliberal rationalism, and virulent imaginative geographies. Political Geography 30(2), 90-98.
• Springer, Simon. (2011). Neoliberalising violence: of the exceptional and the exemplary in coalescing moments. Area 44 (2), 136-143.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Violence

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Violence

• WHO Prevention of Violence
• CDC Violence Prevention
• Violence Prevention Alliance
• International Handbook of violence research
• Information on James W. Prescott's work
• 1986 Seville Statement on Violence
• Introduction and Updated Information on the Seville Statement on Violence
• The Meanings of Violence and the Violence of Meanings Intercultural discussions on violence
• Text of Dom Helder Camara's classic 1971 "Spiral of Violence"
• Institute for interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence
• Historical Violence Database
• American Psychological Association's Violence Prevention Office
• How Violence has Change Ciudad Juarez
• THE ORIGINS OF PEACE AND VIOLENCE.Deprivation of Physical Affection as a Main Cause of Depression, Aggression and Drug Abuse

Wanderlei César da Silva ( /ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay; Portuguese: [vɐ̃dɛɾˈlej ˈsɛzɐr dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ];^[1] Japanese: [ba̠nda̠ɽe̞i ɕiü͍βa̠]; born July 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. He holds the record for the most wins and knockouts in Pride FC history. He is currently ranked as #22 best middleweight fighter in the world by FightMatrix.com.^[2]

Silva began his training under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Although he specializes in muay Thai, he has also trained and received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from trainer Cristiano Marcello.^[3] Silva was given the nickname "Cachorro Louco" ("Mad Dog") in Brazil because of his aggressive style and his pre-fight opponent "stare down".^[4] He is the former IVC Light heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion, and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner.

After spending a majority of his career in Brazil and Japan, Silva moved to the United States in 2007 and he trained at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Preferring a more aggressive gym atmosphere, like he had at Chute Boxe, he opened his own gym, The Wand Fight Team Training & Conditioning Center, in Las Vegas.^[5] Silva currently trains there with his former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro. In 2011 Silva trained at Reign Training Center, along side top middleweight contenders such as Mark Munoz.^[6]

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Early career[link]

Silva's aggressive style is rooted in street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. As a late teen he joined the military and was quickly recognized for his fighting talents and rose up in the ranks. Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil.^[7]

Silva's first professional match was on November 1, 1996, in the Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting organization (BVF), where he knocked out Dilson Filho via strikes at BVF 6. He fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on July 1, 1997, against Marcelo Barbosa, who submitted due to a shoulder injury.

Silva fought six matches in four different IVC events, IVC 2, IVC 6, IVC 9 and IVC 10, from 1997 to 1999. He won five of these matches by KO/TKO, with his one loss being the result of a cut stoppage against Artur Mariano in the IVC 2 show on September 15, 1997. The cut was above his left eyelid and opened back up several times, partially because Silva continued to use the cut side of his head to inflict many headbutts on Mariano over the course of the match.^[8] The doctor observed the cut several times before the fight was ended.^[8]

Silva culminated his IVC career by winning the promotion's light heavyweight belt with a submission win over Eugene Jackson in the IVC 10 show on April 27, 1999. It was after this fight that Silva earned the nickname "The Axe Murderer".

Silva participated in one Meca World Vale Tudo event, Meca 2 on August 12, 2000, where he knocked out Todd Medina with muay thai knees.

UFC[link]

Silva entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 16, 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort. The match has arguably been Silva's worst defeat in his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ending with Silva being knocked down by Belfort's punches then being stopped by the referee. Silva won his next UFC match on May 7, 1999, at UFC 20 where he knocked out Tony Petarra with knees. On April 14, 2000, Silva was given a chance to fight for the UFC light heavyweight championship, but lost via decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25.

Pride Fighting Championships[link]

Silva debuted in Pride at the Pride 7 event on September 12, 1999, winning against Carl Malenko by decision. From 1999 to 2004, Silva won eighteen-straight fights in Pride, excluding a draw against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (under slightly modified rules in which if the match would go the distance, the bout would be declared a draw) and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel (Silva accidentally kicked Yvel in the groin), giving him a twenty-fight unbeaten streak. Silva's reputation as a formidable MMA fighter grew as he developed a successful 5 year win record in the middle weight division (205 lb) of Pride.

Silva fought Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba for the first time at Pride 13: Collision Course on March 25, 2001. Silva won via TKO (knees and soccer kick) at 1:38 into the first round. At Pride 17: Championship Chaos on November 3, 2001, Silva won the inaugural Pride middleweight (205 lb) championship when he defeated Sakuraba for the second time. Sakuraba suffered a broken clavicle and was forced to withdraw after the first round, giving Silva a TKO win via doctor's stoppage. The two fought for a third time on August 10, 2003 at Pride Total Elimination 2003, part of Pride's middleweight tournament. Silva knocked out Sakuraba with a two punch combination at 5:01 into the first round.

Silva faced Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Pride Final Conflict 2003 on November 9, 2003. Silva won by TKO after delivering seventeen consecutive knees to Jackson. Silva became Pride's 2003 tournament champion with the win. The two fought again on October 31, 2004 at Pride 28: High Octane. Jackson knocked Silva down near the end of the first round and mounted him as the bell rang. In round two Silva caught Jackson with a counter right hand and followed up with knees from the thai clinch knocking Jackson out, successfully defending the Pride middleweight championship with the win. In Japan, Silva additionally gained his reputation as a fighter who has never been defeated by any Japanese opponent, resulting in a trend of various Japanese fighters being arranged by Pride to face him.

Silva's undefeated 5-year streak (18 wins, 13 knockouts) in Pride was broken by heavy weight Mark Hunt, a K-1 champion on December 31, 2004 at the Pride Shockwave 2004 event. Hunt won the non-title match by split decision. The decision was controversial because some who felt that Hunt's weight of 280 lb (125 kg), over 80 lb more than Silva, as well as Silva's performance in rounds two and three, had not been sufficiently considered by the judges in their decision; Randy Couture and Bas Rutten, both being commentators at the event, expressed disagreement with the judges decision. Silva also took this fight on two days notice. Nonetheless, Silva's 2004 campaign earned him Fighter of the Year honors from both Sherdog and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Silva's former status as Pride's middleweight champion first came under debate and criticism with his loss to Ricardo Arona (who subsequently lost the tournament to Silva's team-mate, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua) on August 28, 2005 at Pride Final Conflict 2005. The loss, by unanimous decision in the tournament's semi-finals, was Silva's first defeat in a middleweight match in Pride; however, since it was not a title fight and held under special rules due to the grand prix format (2 rounds instead of 3), Silva was still recognized as the middleweight champion. A rematch between Arona and Silva took place at the Pride Shockwave 2005 event on December 31, 2005, with Silva winning by split decision.

On May 18, 2006, Pride's parent company, Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE), announced that Silva would replace Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the Open Weight Grand Prix. Emelianenko's doctors stated that his hand, which had recently undergone surgery, would not be in good enough shape to fight because the metal implant would still be present. Because Silva was also a champion, he received a first round bye and fought in the second round at Pride Critical Countdown Absolute, which took place on July 1, 2006. Silva moved to the semi-finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix after defeating Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO (punches and soccer kicks) at 9:21 of round one.

On July 8, 2006, at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals, UFC president Dana White announced Silva would face Chuck Liddell in a UFC event held in November, provided Liddell beat Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 62. Liddell did end up winning that fight. However, talks dwindled and the fight as advertised did not happen.

On September 10, 2006, at Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Wanderlei Silva was knocked out by Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in their rematch during the Open Weight Grand Prix semi-finals. After a brief stoppage to tend to a swollen eye on Silva, "Cro Cop" struck Silva in the head with a left kick, knocking him out. On October 21, 2006 at Pride 32: The Real Deal, Wanderlei issued his challenge to Chuck Liddell to a fight inside a Pride ring in February, when the promotion returned to Las Vegas, however Dana White stated that the fight would not be happening, citing Silva's recent KO loss to Mirko Filipovic which would have not allowed the NSAC to clear him medically for the fight that soon after being knocked out.

Silva put his Pride middleweight title on the line against Dan Henderson, Pride's welterweight (183 lb) champion at Pride 33: The Second Coming, held on February 24, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[9] In a night of upsets, Henderson knocked out Silva in the third round with a left hook to become the new middleweight champion. This fight was held under unified rules which prevent knees and kicks to the head of a downed opponent as well as having five 5 minute rounds. Many believe this hindered Silva's ability to fully utilize his offensive arsenal. Silva was denied the ability to participate in Pride 34 due to medical suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) which made this his last Pride appearance.^[10] Silva never lost under pure Pride rules^{[attribution needed]} at 205 pounds.

Return to the UFC[link]

On August 17, 2007, the UFC announced that they had signed Wanderlei Silva to compete in the organization and that he would return to the Octagon on December 29, 2007 at UFC 79.^[12][13] After months of speculation about Silva's opponent, UFC President Dana White announced that Chuck Liddell would be Silva's opponent for his return match.^[14] The long-awaited match happened on December 29, with Wanderlei Silva losing to Chuck Liddell by unanimous decision. After the fight Silva said, "Win or lose I like to give the emotion for my fans"^[15] He also added that he gave his best and promised that next time he will deliver a win.

Keeping to his promise, on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84 in Las Vegas, he earned a decisive knockout win against Keith Jardine at the 36-second mark of the very first round by referee stoppage, earning him Knockout of the Night honors.^[16] When Jardine threw a kick, Silva countered with a right-left-right combo that dropped him. Silva then finished the fight with ground strikes to earn the brutal knockout.

At UFC 92, Wanderlei fought Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who he beat twice previously in Pride Fighting Championships.^[17] Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a left hook in the first round.^[18] Following the fight, Silva stated that he would like to fight Jackson again, for the 4th, and possibly in the future, even the 5th time, knowing he already has two knockouts of Jackson. The two fighters also buried the hatchet after this fight.

Wanderlei met Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in Germany at a catchweight bout of 195 lb.^[19] After a hard fought match on both sides, Silva lost via unanimous decision to Franklin. During the second round, Silva rocked Franklin hard with punches and almost finished the fight during that moment. This was counterbalanced by Franklin dropping Silva three times in that round, each time with singular strikes. Silva then announced he would be out of action until 2010, as he underwent facial surgery to repair his nose (which was broken during Silva's second fight with Cro Cop, and then repeatedly broken again in later matches) and remove some scar tissue from above his eyes to avoid bleeding and being easily cut open during future fights. The surgery allowed him to breathe through a once completely blocked nose thus increasing his oxygen intake by 30% by doctor's estimates. At UFC 110, announcer Joe Rogan emphatically stated that Wanderlei looked like a totally different person in the wake of his recent facial reconstructive surgery.

Silva made his middleweight (185 lb) debut during UFC 110 against British striker Michael Bisping on February 21, 2010.^[20] During the fight Bisping was able to take Silva down several times during the first round, however Wanderlei came back with a flurry of punches at the end of the first round, a tight guillotine choke in the second, and a right hook that dropped Bisping in the third. After three rounds of fighting, Silva was awarded the unanimous decision victory (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)^[21] and his first victory in almost two years.^[22] Although winning only one of his previous 6 bouts, he was slightly favored going into the fight as it was widely speculated that Bisping was apprehensive to fight toe-to-toe after being viciously knocked out by Dan Henderson on July 11, 2009 in UFC 100. After the fight Silva said, “In your life you have bad moments. Everybody has bad moments, but if you believe in God and working hard, good moments they’ll come,” an emotional Silva told the audience. Silva attributed his success to working with his previous trainer Raphael Cordeiro. Bisping added, “Wanderlei’s a great opponent...I felt the reason he got the decision was the knockdown right at the end.”^[23]

Wanderlei Silva was expected to face former K-1 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116.^[24] Unfortunately, on June 22, Wanderlei had to pull out due to breaking three ribs during training.^[25] Akiyama would instead be fighting on the card, against Chris Leben. After Leben defeated Akiyama with a triangle choke in the third round Leben verbally called out Silva saying "Come on Wanderlei, I'll take you out too" in his post fight interview.^[26] "He represented very well, he's a good opponent," said Silva of "The Crippler." "I think if he's gonna wait that I'm gonna fight him next however Dana White has not considered a Silva/Leben fight happening anytime soon."^[27]

Silva underwent knee surgery in late July 2010 and his doctors have stated that he will need to wait at least 4 months before returning to training. This means that he will not be seen fighting in the octagon again until early 2011.^[28]

Silva was scheduled to face Brian Stann at UFC 130.^[29] However, after Silva voiced his reluctance to face Stann, he was replaced on the card by returning UFC veteran Jorge Santiago.^[30] On April 4, 2011, the UFC announced that Silva's next opponent would be Chris Leben with the two scheduled to meet at UFC 132.^[31] on July 2, 2011. During the fight's first round Leben won by KO with several uppercuts before following Silva to the ground for a referees stoppage at the 27 second mark.^[32][33] When Dana White was asked about his thoughts on Wanderlei's possible retirement, he said he felt it would be the best time for Wanderlei to retire but in the end it is up to whether Wanderlei himself would like to fight again.

Silva faced Cung Le on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139. Silva defeated Le via second round TKO after a flurry of knees and punches, earning his third Fight of the Night award in the UFC.

Silva and Vitor Belfort will be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil A rematch with Belfort was expected to take place on June 23, 2012 at UFC 147 but due to a broken hand Vitor Belfort had to withdraw from the match.^[34] Silva is now scheduled to face Rich Franklin in a 190 lb catchweight at the event.^[35] Franklin and Silva fought once before at UFC 99, where Franklin won via unanimous decision.

Personal life[link]

Wanderlei and his wife Tea have a son named Thor. He also has a daughter named Rafaela from a previous relationship.^[36][37]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Mixed Martial Arts[link]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship

• Fight of the Night (Three times)
• Knockout of the Night (One time)
• Most Wins & Knockouts in combined PRIDE FC & UFC History (25 Wins 17 Knockouts)

• PRIDE Fighting Championships

• PRIDE Middleweight Championship 2001-2007 (One time, First)
• 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner
• 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist
• 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist
• Most Wins & Knockouts in PRIDE FC History (22 Wins 15 Knockouts)
• Most Wins & Knockouts in PRIDE FC Middleweight Division
• Longest Undefeated Streak in PRIDE FC History (20 Fights)
• Longest Win Streak in PRIDE FC History (18 Wins)
• Most Consecutive Title Defenses in PRIDE FC History
• Most Title Defenses in PRIDE FC History
• Most Title Defenses in PRIDE FC Middleweight Division

• International Vale Tudo Championship

• IVC Light Heavyweight Champion

• Sherdog

• 2004 Fighter of the Year [1]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 2001 Feud of the Year vs Kazushi Sakuraba
• 2001 Shootfighter of the Year
• 2003 Shootmatch of the Year vs Hidehiko Yoshida
• 2004 Shootfighter of the Year
• 2004 Shootmatch of the Year vs Quinton Jackson

• Fighters Only World MMA Awards

• Fight of the Year (2007) - vs Chuck Liddell on December 29, 2007 [2]
• Knockout of the Year (2008) - vs Keith Jardine on May 24 [3]
• Gym of the Year (2010) - awarded to Wand Fight Team [4]

• Inside Fights

• 2008 Fight of the Year vs Chuck Liddell on December 29, 2007 [5]

Mixed martial arts record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
		Rich Franklin		UFC 147	02012-06-23June 23, 2012			Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Catchweight of 190 lbs.
Win	34–11–1 (1)	Cung Le	TKO (knees and punches)	UFC 139	02011-11-19November 19, 2011	2	4:49	San Jose, California, United States	Fight of the Night.
Loss	33–11–1 (1)	Chris Leben	KO (punches)	UFC 132	02011-07-02July 2, 2011	1	0:27	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	33–10–1 (1)	Michael Bisping	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 110	02010-02-21February 21, 2010	3	5:00	Sydney, Australia	Middleweight Debut.
Loss	32–10–1 (1)	Rich Franklin	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 99	02009-06-13June 13, 2009	3	5:00	Cologne, Germany	Catchweight of 195 lbs. Fight of the Night.
Loss	32–9–1 (1)	Quinton Jackson	KO (punch)	UFC 92	02008-12-27December 27, 2008	1	3:21	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	32–8–1 (1)	Keith Jardine	KO (punches)	UFC 84	02008-05-24May 24, 2008	1	0:36	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Knockout of the Night. Knockout of the Year (2008).
Loss	31–8–1 (1)	Chuck Liddell	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 79	02007-12-29December 29, 2007	3	5:00	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Fight of the Night. Fight of the Year (2007).
Loss	31–7–1 (1)	Dan Henderson	KO (punch)	Pride 33	02007-02-24February 24, 2007	3	2:08	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Lost Pride Middleweight Championship.
Loss	31–6–1 (1)	Mirko Filipović	KO (head kick)	Pride Final Conflict Absolute	02006-09-10September 10, 2006	1	5:26	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Semifinal.
Win	31–5–1 (1)	Kazuyuki Fujita	TKO (punches and soccer kicks)	Pride Critical Countdown Absolute	02006-07-01July 1, 2006	1	9:21	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal. was replacement for Fedor Emelianenko.
Win	30–5–1 (1)	Ricardo Arona	Decision (split)	Pride Shockwave 2005	02005-12-31December 31, 2005	3	5:00	Saitama, Japan	Defended Pride Middleweight Championship.
Loss	29–5–1 (1)	Ricardo Arona	Decision (unanimous)	Pride Final Conflict 2005	02005-08-28August 28, 2005	2	5:00	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinal.
Win	29–4–1 (1)	Kazuhiro Nakamura	TKO (punches)	Pride Critical Countdown 2005	02005-06-24June 24, 2005	1	5:24	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal.
Win	28–4–1 (1)	Hidehiko Yoshida	Decision (split)	Pride Total Elimination 2005	02005-04-23April 23, 2005	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Opening Round.
Loss	27–4–1 (1)	Mark Hunt	Decision (split)	Pride Shockwave 2004	02004-12-31December 31, 2004	3	5:00	Saitama, Japan
Win	27–3–1 (1)	Quinton Jackson	KO (knees)	Pride 28	02004-10-31October 31, 2004	2	3:26	Saitama, Japan	Defended Pride Middleweight Championship. Fight of the Year (2004).
Win	26–3–1 (1)	Yuki Kondo	KO (stomps)	Pride Final Conflict 2004	02004-08-15August 15, 2004	1	2:46	Saitama, Japan
Win	25–3–1 (1)	Ikuhisa Minowa	KO (punches)	Pride Bushido 2	02004-02-15February 15, 2004	1	1:09	Yokohama, Japan
Win	24–3–1 (1)	Quinton Jackson	KO (knees)	Pride Final Conflict 2003	02003-11-09November 9, 2003	1	6:28	Tokyo, Japan	Won the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix.
Win	23–3–1 (1)	Hidehiko Yoshida	Decision (unanimous)	Pride Final Conflict 2003	02003-11-09November 9, 2003	2	5:00	Tokyo, Japan	Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinal. Fight of the Year (2003).
Win	22–3–1 (1)	Kazushi Sakuraba	KO (punch)	Pride Total Elimination 2003	02003-08-10August 10, 2003	1	5:01	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Opening Round.
Win	21–3–1 (1)	Hiromitsu Kanehara	TKO (corner stoppage)	Pride 23	02002-11-24November 24, 2002	1	3:40	Tokyo, Japan	Defended Pride Middleweight Championship.
Win	20–3–1 (1)	Tatsuya Iwasaki	KO (head kick and punches)	Pride Shockwave	02002-08-28August 28, 2002	1	1:16	Tokyo, Japan
vDraw	19–3–1 (1)	Mirko Filipović	Draw	Pride 20	02002-04-28April 28, 2002	5	3:00	Yokohama, Japan	Match fought under special rules.
Win	19–3 (1)	Kiyoshi Tamura	KO (punch)	Pride 19	02002-02-24February 24, 2002	2	2:28	Saitama, Japan	Defended Pride Middleweight Championship.
Win	18–3 (1)	Alexander Otsuka	TKO (doctor stoppage)	Pride 18	02001-12-23December 23, 2001	3	2:02	Fukuoka, Japan
Win	17–3 (1)	Kazushi Sakuraba	TKO (doctor stoppage)	Pride 17	02001-11-03November 3, 2001	1	10:00	Tokyo, Japan	Won Pride Middleweight Championship.
Win	16–3 (1)	Shungo Oyama	TKO (punches)	Pride 14	02001-05-27May 27, 2001	1	0:30	Yokohama, Japan
Win	15–3 (1)	Kazushi Sakuraba	TKO (knees and soccer kick)	Pride 13	02001-03-25March 25, 2001	1	1:38	Saitama, Japan
Win	14–3 (1)	Dan Henderson	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 12	02000-12-09December 9, 2000	2	10:00	Saitama, Japan
NC	13–3 (1)	Gilbert Yvel	No Contest	Pride 11	02000-10-31October 31, 2000	1	0:21	Osaka, Japan	Yvel was kicked in the groin.
Win	13–3	Guy Mezger	KO (punch)	Pride 10	02000-08-27August 27, 2000	1	3:45	Saitama, Japan
Win	12–3	Todd Medina	KO (knees)	Meca World Vale Tudo 2	02000-08-12August 12, 2000	1	0:39	Curitiba, Brazil
Loss	11–3	Tito Ortiz	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 25	02000-04-14April 14, 2000	5	5:00	Tokyo, Japan	For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win	11–2	Bob Schrijber	Submission (rear naked choke)	Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round	02000-01-30January 30, 2000	1	2:42	Tokyo, Japan
Win	10–2	Daijiro Matsui	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 8	01999-11-21November 21, 1999	2	10:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	9–2	Carl Malenko	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 7	01999-09-12September 12, 1999	2	10:00	Yokohama, Japan
Win	8–2	Tony Petarra	KO (knees)	UFC 20	01999-05-07May 7, 1999	1	2:53	Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Win	7–2	Eugene Jackson	Submission (punches)	IVC 10: World Class Champions	01999-04-27April 27, 1999	1	0:32	Brazil	Won IVC Light-Heavyweight Championship.
Win	6–2	Adrian Serrano	KO (punches and soccer kick)	IVC 9: The Revenge	01999-01-20January 20, 1999	1	0:22	Aracaju, Brazil
Loss	5–2	Vitor Belfort	TKO (punches)	UFC Brazil	01998-10-16October 16, 1998	1	0:44	São Paulo, Brazil	UFC Debut.
Win	5–1	Mike van Arsdale	KO (punch and soccer kick)	IVC 6: The Challenge	01998-08-23August 23, 1998	1	4:00	São Paulo, Brazil
Loss	4–1	Artur Mariano	TKO (cut)	IVC 2: A Question of Pride	01997-09-15September 15, 1997	1	13:10	São Paulo, Brazil
Win	4–0	Egidio da Costa	Submission (punches)	IVC 2: A Question of Pride	01997-09-15September 15, 1997	1	2:27	São Paulo, Brazil
Win	3–0	Sean Bormet	KO (head kick)	IVC 2: A Question of Pride	01997-09-15September 15, 1997	1	1:19	São Paulo, Brazil
Win	2–0	Marcelao Barbosa	TKO (shoulder injury)	Brazilian Vale Tudo 10	01997-07-01July 1, 1997	1	0:20	Brazil
Win	1–0	Dilson Filho	KO (elbow)	Brazilian Vale Tudo 6	01996-11-01November 1, 1996	1	3:35	Brazil

References[link]