Safety

You (and your parents) may well wonder about the risk of experiencing violence while in Derry, Belfast, or throughout Northern Ireland. Since our first concern is your safety, we sought data on the matter.

The Bogside district of Derry, June 2003.

The best source of information on relative risks of victimization is the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey, conducted by the United Nations Interregional Crime & Justice Research Institute, based in Turin, Italy. The following chart, based on the U.N. data, depicts the overall risk of victimization in Northern Ireland, the United States, England, and France:

Based on data from the U.N. Interregional Crime & Justice Research Institute, 2000.

As you can see, the rates of victimization are roughly comparable across all four countries. Statistically speaking, you are at no greater risk of violence in Northern Ireland than you are here in the U.S., or in England or France.

Derry at night.

So why might you have had a different impression of Northern Ireland? Probably because we rarely hear about events there unless they are violent in nature. Our colleagues in Northern Ireland tell us that their countrypersons have similarly misinformed perceptions of safety in the United States. Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland has been aimed at one or the other side of the sectarian conflict.