This is Suicide Prevention Alert Week around the holiday season. We share this video entitled Let's Talk! created by the Commission for Suicide Prevention, PR Department of Health to educate and sensitize young people and families on this topic. It's vital to seek professional help right away.

[24/7 Help Lines]
- Puerto Rico PAS Line: 1-800-981-0023
- National Suicide Prevention Network (TALK): 1-800-273-8255/1-888-628-9454

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PRESS RELEASE

PUERTO RICO STATE DATA CENTER NETWORK (SDC-PR)

Six municipalities with at least 60% of their population living in poverty

They are located in the center and south-west according to the Map Series of the Puerto Rico Census Data Network

San Juan, PR, November 17, 2020 — The percentage of people living in poverty shows that six municipalities have between 60% and 64% of their population with this characteristic. The geographical distribution shows that they are located in the center and southwest of Puerto Rico, these being Maricao, Guánica, Adjuntas, Lajas, Jayuya and Comerío. La Selected Indicator Map Series includes the information collected during the period 2014-2018 through the Community Survey carried out by U.S. Census Bureau. This series includes ten indicators on demographic, social and economic topics at the level of municipalities and neighborhoods in Puerto Rico.

In addition, with information from the same period (2014-2018), the Socio-Demographic Profiles of Puerto Rico's Electoral Districts Which are divided volume I and II, with the 8 Senate Districts and with the 40 Representative Districts respectively. These provide a detailed photograph of each electoral district with essential information to know the particularities of the population that resides in each of them.

Both new products (Map and Profile Series) are part of the publications of the Puerto Rico Census Data Network (SDC-PR by its acronym in English). All of them can be accessed free of charge on the SDC-PR censo.estadisticas.pr. As a local liaison entity with the U.S. Census Bureau, the Institute of Statistics shares several findings from the Selected Indicator Map Series:

• Among the 10 municipalities with the highest percentage of children under 18, eight of them were in the southern and central region of Puerto Rico. On the other hand, the 4 municipalities with the lowest percentage of minors were Guaynabo, and to the west Rincón, Mayagüez and Hormigueros.
• The highest percentages of the 18-64 year old population were in 7 municipalities, these being Toa Alta, Aguada, Morovis, and in the central-eastern area Cidra, Gurabo, Juncos and San Lorenzo. On the other hand, the municipalities with the lowest percentages of the population aged 18-64 are located mainly in the southwest (Hormigueros, San Germán, Sabana Grande, Lajas and Guánica) and to the east (Fajardo, Ceiba and Culebra).
• The municipalities with the highest percentage of elderly people (65+) are shown to be in the western area of Hormigueros, San Germán, Lajas and Rincón.
• Municipalities with the highest percentages (80%-84%) of people with a higher education level or higher are geographically concentrated in the metropolitan area, in addition to Santa Isabel on the south coast. On the other hand, the two municipalities with the lowest percentage of education attained are located in the midwest (Maricao and Las Marías).
• As for the population with disabilities (reported on their own account), 6 of the 10 municipalities with the highest percentages (Cayey, Cidra, Comerío, Aguas Buenas, Naranjito and Orocovis) are geographically concentrated in the central area, and the other 4 municipalities are located in the south-west (Guánica, Sabana Grande, Hormigueros and Yauco). On the other hand, a concentration of municipalities in the south-east region reflected hundreds of children with disabilities (< 15%), with 9 of the 13 municipalities in this category including the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra.
• In the metropolitan region, east and south, most of the municipalities with the highest percentage (50%-74%) of households with access to broadband internet are clustered. In a situation of lower access, some 4 municipalities in the western region showed that they had less than 35% of their homes with internet access, these being Lajas, Cabo Rojo, Maricao and Las Marías.
• In percentage terms, the population in 37 municipalities around Puerto Rico was shown to have half of its population or more (50% +) living in poverty. Municipalities with the lowest percentage of people in poverty are located in the metropolitan area with the exception of the municipalities of San Juan and Cataño.
• Regarding family income across municipalities, this indicates that about 7 municipalities (Gurabo, Trujillo Alto, Dorado, Carolina, Toa Alta, Culebra and Bayamón) showed a median of between $30,000 and $39,000 in family income. The municipality with the highest median household income was Guaynabo ($44,000).
• The highest percentage of people in the workforce (50%-57%) are mostly municipalities in the metropolitan area and the Northeast, where 11 of the 13 municipalities with this characteristic are located, Culebra and Juana Diaz the only ones outside these regions.

“The series of maps provides a geographical perspective on features of interest within Puerto Rico. The behavior of geographical patterns could support government and community management, analysis for decision-making, and stimulate research. In the same sense, the profiles of the electoral districts serve as basic metrics for current and future public policy that affects the residents of these regions.” said Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. In addition, as the leading entity of the SDC in Puerto Rico, the Institute manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau on Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's 10-year population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/.

For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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For questions:

https://preguntas.estadisticas.pr/

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551 homicides and 210 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2020

551 homicides and 210 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2020

As presented in the most recent Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) established at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for the year 2020. The report reports that in 2020, there were 729 incidents of violent deaths, with a total of 790 fatalities. Of the total number of violent deaths, 551 were homicides and 210 were suicides. According to the PRVDRS, violent deaths occur primarily through homicide or suicide.

In 2020, 69.8% of victims of violent deaths were reported in single or multiple homicide incidents and 26.6% were suicide incidents. Four homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in eight fatalities. In addition, four violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.5%) and 19 violent deaths with undetermined intent (2.4%) were documented during this period.

In 2020, approximately nine out of 10 victims of violent deaths (89.0%) were men. The crude homicide rate was 24.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, 45.2 in men and 4.9 in women. The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. Approximately, nine out of 10 homicides (88.9%) involved a firearm. 89.6% of these deaths occurred in men and 83.7% in women. The proportion of homicides of women with firearms in 2020 is the highest since 2000. Homicide rates by sex in age groups between 15 and 39 years reflect that in these age groups, 72.7% of all homicides occur in men and 61.2% in women. The most common criminal circumstances of homicides in Puerto Rico are related to illegal drug trafficking and organized crime.

In 2020, 68 fatal victims of family violence were reported. Most of these cases were related to violence in an intimate partner or former partner environment (17 cases, 25.0%) and 31 additional victims related to intimate partners or third parties involved in an intimate partner conflict (45.6%). In turn, violence between family members (20 cases, 29.4%), occurred mainly during an argument (50.0%). The majority of victims of intimate partner violence were women (76.5%) who were fatally assaulted by their former partner or former male spouse (61.5%) or current partner or spouse (38.5%). In addition, three of the women victims of intimate partner violence were homicide-suicide incidents (23.1%).

As for suicides in Puerto Rico, the report highlights that the frequency is lower than that of homicides. However, as in homicides, suicides are more frequent in men (84.8%). In 2020, the crude suicide rate was 6.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, 11.4 in men (one of 124 men) and 1.9 in women (one of 765 women). The risk of suicide in men was six times greater than the risk of suicide in women. Most suicides occurred by hanging, strangulation, or suffocation (64.3%), followed by firearms (16.7%).

Mariluz Bezares, manager of statistical projects at the Institute of Statistics and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS, explained that the collection of this type of data could involve fieldwork that takes more than two years from the time the incident occurs until the collection and review of the data is completed. “This system is a reliable, complete and unique reference source that helps describe the context of violent deaths in the victim-aggressor relationship and the magnitude, trend and characteristics of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Diego Zavala, epidemiologist and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS.

For the executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, these statistics are one of the main tools to combat the phenomenon of violence in Puerto Rico. “These data, among others, serve as a basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, demographic and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is to continue strengthening this statistical and epidemiological system to continue improving the quality of this type of data,” said Dr. Disdier.

The PRVDRS is an epidemiological surveillance system affiliated with the Institute of Statistics and designed to obtain a complete and standardized census of violent deaths in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS began its participation in the National Violent Death Notification System (National Violent Death Reporting System, NVDRS) in September 2016 through a collaborative agreement granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity tasked with coordinating the government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and accessible quickly and universally. The Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico during 2020, like previous reports, is available at: Prvdrs. To learn more about the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, you can access the website at www.estadisticas.pr.gov and on social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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