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72Urban crime and violenceOne violent crimecan have manyvictims, includingshattered familiesFigure 3.21Expected relationshipbetween democracyand violent crime fromdifferent perspectivesSource: LaFree and Tseloni,2006, p33Homicide ratesHomicide ratesNull hypothesisHighLowDemocratizationConflictHighLowDemocratizationWhat this implies is that connections between democratizationand violence are extremely complex and not easilyexplained.Nevertheless, some groups have used high violencerates as political arguments against democratization and as arationale for segregating distressed populations and carvingup urban territories into gated privatized enclaves. Suchapproaches have been particularly evident in São Paulo(Brazil) and Johannesburg (South Africa) 184 and are implicitin strategies used elsewhere to privatize security and territory.IMPACTS OF CRIME ANDVIOLENCEThis section addresses some of the social, psychological andeconomic impacts of crime and violence at the global,national, local and individual levels. These impacts arecomplex, interconnected and not easily separable.Nevertheless, some of the conditions and trends aresketched here relative to homicide, robbery, burglary andcorruption. Owing to data availability, the discussion focusesmore on local impacts relative to robbery and burglary. Thesection starts by distinguishing between primary, secondaryand tertiary victims of crime and violence.Impacts of crime and violence: VictimcategoriesAt the global level, homicide and other violent crimes haveobvious and significant impacts, which include loss of lifeand physical and psychological injury to the primary victims.Data from the WHO suggests that almost one third of theestimated global violence-related deaths in 2000 were dueto homicides. In some countries with easy access toweapons, the tolls have been particularly high. For example,Colombia has experienced over 500,000 deaths due tocommon and organized crime since 1979, which amounts to17,600 deaths per year. Over 80 per cent of these have beendue to gun violence. 185 The incidence of homicide is oftenexacerbated by civil conflicts that make weapons more availableto the general population.Homicide ratesHomicide ratesCivilizationHighLowDemocratizationModernizationHighLowDemocratizationSecondary victims include family and friends, oftenreferred to as homicide survivors, who often experiencenegative psychological and physical effects, including intensegrief and impairment of social functioning. These impactsare borne out by recent research on the clinical implicationsof homicide to surviving family and friends. They suggeststaggering psychological costs that require long-term professionaltreatment. Worldwide, homicide survivors oftenexperience post-traumatic stress disorder, with significantimpacts on the children of homicide victims. It is clear,therefore, that one violent crime can have many victims,including shattered families.Tertiary victims include communities and society,generally, which can experience profound shocks to healthcare,social services and economic systems. The costs ofcrime play out very differently for individuals and theirfamilies across the world, especially when comparedbetween developed and developing nations. For example,UNOCD compared the discounted value of the losteconomic productivity costs of a typical homicide victim inCape Town (South Africa) as US$15,319 relative to a typicalhomicide in New Zealand as US$829,000, with the differencestemming from the much higher predicted income forthe latter individual. However, the death or injury of theindividual in Cape Town is liable to be economicallyprofound since there are likely to be more family membersdirectly dependent upon the victim than in New Zealand,which also has more public and private safety nets. 186Impacts on most vulnerable victimsViolent crimes such as homicide and armed robbery eat awayat the social and cultural fabric of communities by threateningthe covenant of trust binding people together. This isoften manifested in the isolation of individuals from eachother and from work, educational and healthcare opportunities,all necessary elements to building social and humancapital. The most vulnerable citizens, such as the poor,elderly, women and children, are victimized in multipleways: some become stranded in their own homes at night,some retreat into depression, while others give up life andcareer opportunities. For example, one author describes theexperience of her neighbours in Guayaquil (Ecuador) havingto live with the daily terror of violent robbers such that inone six-month period ‘one in five women had been attackedby young men armed with knives, machetes or hand guns’.In speaking about the impacts of these acts, she notes that‘the streets were no longer safe after dark, so girls and youngwomen were dropping out of night school, exacerbatingtheir social isolation’. 187 In this way, violent crime tends tocompound already existing patterns of discrimination againstwomen and girls. As Box 3.4 suggests, violent crime oftenhighlights social justice gaps between the wealthy and thevulnerable poor, and tests citizens’ confidence in the willingnessof public authorities to listen to them.Some groups, such as women and those living inimpoverished communities, are particularly vulnerable toviolent crime. While men are the primary users of guns,women suffer disproportionately from gun violence as they