Extreme World Poverty: Violence

This post is a book review of "The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence" by Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros.  This is the second book review blog in a series exploring extreme world poverty.  My purpose in writing these book reviews is not to give a comprehensive synopsis or critique of the book, but to try to pass along the information that is most relevant to those wanting to help with these issues.  But if the issue of violence towards the poor grabs you, then I would highly recommend reading this book. 

What's the book about?
Violence towards the poor (especially towards women, especially sexual violence) is one of the most pressing problems that needs to be solved to help those living in extreme poverty.  There are 4 big categories of violence that need to be addressed:  1) sexual violence (rape), 2) sexual violence as a business (prostitution and trafficking), 3) forced labor / slavery, and 4) violent land seizures.  In many developing countries, there is not an effective public law and order system to protect the poor - so even though there are criminal laws against violence and forced prostitution, the police are not protecting the poor and lawyers are not prosecuting on behalf of poor victims, so criminals can act without consequence.  In many places, not only are the police failing to protect the poor, but they are victimizing the poor in order to help the powerful.  This affects all kinds of things (it's a leading reason why girls in developing countries stop going to school, for example).  This also means that the billions of dollars of aid flowing in for things like hunger, education, and public health cannot be nearly as effective in lifting people out of poverty.  

What things would help most with violence towards the poor now?

• Tie development dollars to a commitment by the receiving country to transform criminal justice systems so that they also work for the poor.  Unless the country is committed to change, money will not help with criminal justice reform, and will not be as effective in addressing other problems.  
• Support local leaders who are making an intentional effort to transform their justice system.  
• Criminal justice reform is not an issue that can be fixed quickly and easily with an infusion of money and a short burst of outside support - it will take time and commitment to oppose a system that has been in place for hundreds of years, and that continues to benefit rich and powerful people.  
• The solutions will be different in each place, and will depend on the existing culture and existing strengths and weaknesses of the system - locals are best suited to understand these dynamics.  
• Certain individuals are key - Journalists, pastors, and advocacy groups can help tell the shocking stories of violence; and local businesses leaders can choose to support reform rather than the status quo.
• Improve the working conditions of the people working in the system.  The judges, the police, the social workers - pay them well, train them well, give them humane working conditions.  Give them the equipment and manpower they need to do their jobs well.  
• The two goals when transforming a criminal justice system should be 1) prevent crime, and 2) build trust with the public.  Law and order won't work well to prevent crime without the public believing that it works well, and generally acting accordingly.  
• One way you can build public trust is to fight corruption within the criminal justice system - prosecute and/or fire corrupt officials.  
• A second way is to fight crime effectively, and then do a media campaign to advertise this.

Haugen made these 3 suggestions in his conclusion:
1) Talk about it - all conversations about global poverty should include addressing violence.
2) Bring law enforcement expertise to the table - development groups and human rights groups do not traditionally work with law enforcement experts, but this will need to change if we want criminal justice systems to transform.  
3) Start by funding projects in more stable countries where reforms are likely to work more quickly - successful reform projects will create hope, will make limited dollars work most effectively, and will help reformers learn lessons as they move on to more difficult countries.

What organization is helping?
International Justice Mission

Other:   If you work in the criminal justice system, then this book will make you appreciate how well the United States criminal justice system (for all its flaws) is currently working.  When you read about problems like people being pre-trial detained for longer than the maximum sentence of the crime for which they are accused; or courts shutting down for weeks each month because they have run out of paper and can't conduct their business; or a court system that operates in English, despite less than 1% of the population speaking English, so not only the victims and accused but also the lawyers and judges can't understand key parts of the proceedings - it boggles the mind.