What is the VAPF project?
The Violence Against Public Figures (VAPF) project seeks to expand academics and practitioners understanding of violence, specifically in Central America, by constructing a comprehensive cross-national, panel dataset of incidents of lethal violence against a range of public figures over 15 years (from 2008 to 2022).
Why does the VAPF dataset matter?
Advancing and increasing understanding of violence towards public figures is of vital importance because this targeted violence can have broad and serious ripple effects on society and governance. For example, killing candidates limits the choices available to electorates, killing judges or prosecutors undermines the rule of law, killing security officials may result in further militarization of the police force, killing journalists compromises freedom of the press, and killing activists has clear consequences for civil society and the various social movements to which these activists provide leadership. Thus, lethal violence against public figures warrants far greater attention. When completed, this dataset would be the first comprehensive, cross-national panel dataset of violence against a range of public figures, all of whom are important to functioning democracy and all have become targets of assassinations in Central America.
Where is the VAPF project focused?
We are tracking assassinations in all seven Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.