The crisis in Sudan’s Darfur is plagued with violence, hunger, displacement and looting. It’s biggest issue now is the systematic raping of women and children as young as 4 years old.
On a national scale, a worker at a plastics plant in Henderson, Ky., shot and killed several co-workers, then himself, after an argument with a supervisor.
Locally, the wheels of justice are turning for two men arrested in connection with the shooting of an innocent, pregnant bank teller that led to the deaths of her unborn twins.
With news headlines littered with violent acts, one can’t help but wonder what state our community, local and abroad, is in. It may appear that there’s widespread war and turmoil, but experts state on a worldwide scale, violence is not as prevalent as one thinks.
Dr. Larissa Fast, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame agrees that due to increased media coverage, dubbed the CNN Effect, citizens now have more and constant access to what’s going on locally and abroad.
“The Human Security Report documents a decrease in the wars and genocides which runs counter to what we hear in much of the media,” Fast said.
With the barrage of violence brought to citizens, many are not swayed by that argument. Whether stemming from a grievance, such as monetary, racial or religious purposes or opportunistic violence, such as lack of structure, some feel violence is becoming the norm.
To ease doubters fears, experts attribute the decrease in violence due to declines in financial funding of various causes.
“The U.S. and Soviet Union aren’t funneling a bunch of money into opposing groups around the world,” said Douglas Woodwell, assistant professor of international relations, University of Indianapolis. “And they don’t have these ideologies anymore. Now we have this rise of militant Islamic fundamentalism which is kind of new.”
Also, while government systems continue to advance, there are still areas where structure is lacking, which means there is no accountability for bureaucrats or citizens.
Fast stands behind the institute’s mission to conduct research, education and outreach programs on the causes of violence and the conditions for sustainable peace. She wants people to understand that not only are many of the most heinous crimes under reported, such as systematic human rights abuses in places like Zimbabwe, instead of focusing on the amount of violence happening locally and abroad, concerned citizens should look at the cause of the violence.
“Poverty, shame, stereotypes, prejudice, lack of opportunity, human rights violations, territorial disagreements, to give a few examples, can lead to violence,” said Fast. “It’s also important to think about structural violence, such as social, political, economic structures, or systematic inequalities in society.”
“The solution to violence is to look at the full complexity of cases so we can address the roots of violence.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an estimated 1,417,745 violent crimes occurred nationwide in 2006. Also in that same year, of crime in Indianapolis 26 percent involved African-Americans.
While feminist studies suggest all violence begins in the home, Woodwell believes individually, communities will always deal with attacks against individuals, but on the large scale, peace is on the way.
