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Violence​—Soon to End Forever!

“Violence Imperils Nation”​—The New York Times, United States.

“Violence at Home”​—O Globo, Brazil.

“Violence Stalks World’s Women”​—The Globe and Mail, Canada.

THESE headlines from newspapers in North and South America illustrate a disturbing worldwide trend. As the World Health Organization put it recently, “violence in all its forms has increased dramatically in recent decades.”

Consider some sobering statistics:

Homicides. In Latin America and the Caribbean, some 1,250 people meet a violent death each day. As a consequence, “in half of the countries of the region, murder is the second leading cause of death in young people aged 15-24.”

Violence against children. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of children are problems throughout the world. For instance, “surveys of adults in several industrialized countries suggest that 10%–15% of children are victims of sexual abuse​—most of them girls.”

Violence against women. After investigating human rights abuses committed worldwide in 1997, researchers concluded that “domestic violence has been one of the principal causes of female injury in almost every country in the world.” (Human Rights Watch World Report 1998) Domestic violence, being a widespread yet underreported problem, is now called “the silent crisis of the 20th century.”​—The Globe and Mail, Canada.

The earth was similarly “filled with violence” in the days of Noah. (Genesis 6:9-12) But Jehovah God kept that “preacher of righteousness” and his family alive “when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people.” God will take comparable action in our day. He will preserve “people of godly devotion” when he removes the violent and wicked and makes this earth a paradise in his promised new world. (2 Peter 2:4-9; 3:11-13) Are you not thrilled to know that violence will soon end forever?