Gender-disaggregated data on lethal violence is notoriously difficult to record and collect, due to poor recording practices, absence of consensus over concepts, lack of institutional capacity or absence of political will. This paper introduces the Global Burden of Armed Violence, a comprehensive database which records sex-disaggregated information on lethal violence worldwide, in an effort to elucidate national, regional and global trends. This paper argues that complex typologies of lethal violence affecting women and men can hinder rather than help in identifying the scope and magnitude of violence. It proposes thus a 'unified approach' to understanding armed violence in conflict and non-conflict settings, and its different impact on men and women. It builds on the complexity of the phenomenon, bringing in a methodologically sound approach and a gender perspective. The new database collects sex-disaggregated data for the period 2007-2012 for all countries / territories for which such information is available (only about 100 in the world). The paper discusses the 'gendered' barriers to collecting data on lethal violence, touching on issues related to social norms, ethics as well as specific counting rules that affect the availability of relevant information.
