2 Popular explanations for homicidal behavior often focus on certain personalities or dispositions. We know that homicide, like other violent crimes, is most often an offense of the young 3 male. In Canada, roughly nine of every 10 persons accused of homicide is male and about three-quarters of those accused are younger than 35. Although homicides account for a very small proportion of all violent crimes, it is still a crime that is closely monitored for trends. Notably, the 1994 homicide rate of 2.04 incidents per 100,000 persons was the lowest recorded in 25 years.
Males are twice as likely to be homicide victims than females.
5 More important, homicides involving women have different dynamics than those between men. Men are also most often killed by men, but by younger men than are women. Men accused of homicide also tend to be single, whereas women are more likely to be married. 7 Homicide offenders are likely to use weapons. A useful way of classifying homicide is to focus on the motivation for these offences.