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VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Understanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence

VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Understanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence Alys Willman , PhD Social Cohesion & Violence Prevention Team, World Bank. Perspectives from the Community. How are people coping every day with violence?

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VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Understanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence

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  1. VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Understanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence AlysWillman, PhD Social Cohesion & Violence Prevention Team, World Bank

  2. Perspectives from the Community • How are people coping every day with violence? • What can we do to support positive coping strategies? Social Development Department VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  3. Violence affects everyone, but in different ways Victimization rates (past year) ranged from 21% (Dili); 33% (Port-au-Prince); 39% (Fortaleza); 44% (Nairobi); 49% (Johannesburg) Youth (between 15-35 years old) accounted for 40-75 percent of victims in the five sites. Males were only slightly more likely to be victimized than females (Haiti was an exception), but more likely to be perpetrators everywhere. Social Development Department Social Development Department VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  4. Robbery and assault were the most common forms of victimization in all sites (except Port-au-Prince) Experiences of sexual violence were alarmingly high in some communities, and often occurred in public spaces. Different forms of violence are inter-related.

  5. Many coping mechanisms further isolate residents, and erode trust “This is part of our lives… We don’t do anything… There was a day when a 10 year-old girl was murdered in broad daylight as if it were as normal as fetching a bucket of water, you understand?What do you think we said when the police came…?” (young male, Fortaleza) VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  6. Particularly troubling is a tendency to rely on extra-legal sources of security “Let me tell you about a situation… They caught someone, and he was lynched. This man had killed a man, but a brave seven year-old boy hit him in the back with a rock, enabling the community to catch him. The police drove by and looked at the scene.” (Male, Cite Soleil, Haiti) VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  7. The Built Environment Affects Mobility, Security and Trust • Poor infrastructure encourages situational crime • Lack of services increases vulnerability, feeds sense of social exclusion • People need safe spaces to come together, exert social control over violent behavior

  8. Recommendations Rebuilding Trust: • Send clear signals that the situation will change • Address the trend toward private security Addressing Relationships Between different forms of Violence • Prevent domestic violence; take a life-cycle approach VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  9. Recommendations Supporting Community Capacities for Action • Upgrading infrastructure as a catalyzing force • Improving data collection and sharing to empower collective action Improving Coordination of Policies and Programs • Connecting national, state, municipal initiatives • Supporting government-civil society coordination VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

  10. http://www.worldbank.org/socialdevelopment

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