Introduction:

The rights of children and adolescents prevail over others. However, middle-income countries such as Colombia have a high homicide rate for this population group, showing that society is not able to effectively protect their fundamental right to life.

Objective:

To describe the trend of homicides of children and adolescents in Colombia for the period 2010-2020.

Materials and methods:

We used anonymized microdata of non-fetal deaths from DANE vital statistics and calculated homicide rates for children under 19 years of age.

Outcomes:

During the period analyzed, homicides of children and adolescents in Colombia decreased from 2485 in 2010 to 1360 in 2020.

Discussion:

The results of this study show homicides have significant differences by age group, sex, and department, which have determinants that describe them but need to be addressed in depth in further research.

Conclusions:

It is essential to continue with this decreasing trend to guarantee the right to life for this population group.