Global Burden of Armed Violence - The Geneva Declaration on ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

84 GLOBAL BURDEN <strong>of</strong> ARMED VIOLENCE who committed the <strong>of</strong>fence has been identified’ may vary between countries. <strong>The</strong> suspect may or may not have to be formally charged before this Figure 4.9 Respondents saying it is possible to bribe a judge to get a reduced sentence in Central American countries (%), 2004 El Salvador Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua Guatemala Honduras Map 4.3 Homicide clearance rates in Central America �� 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 �� Source: UNODC elaboration from Crime Trends Survey Data (UN, 2006) Source: Latinobarómetro (2004) �� criterion is satisfied. Overall, while little may be said about the differences between subregions, the results indicate a generally high level <strong>of</strong> suc- cess <strong>of</strong> the various criminal justice systems. Nevertheless, these figures should not underesti- mate the significance <strong>of</strong> the problem <strong>of</strong> ineffective justice and correctional services for violence prevention and reduction. In Guatemala, for example, in the year 2000 there were 2,707 murders with a suspect and only 197 without suspects (UNODC, 2007, p. 32). In addition, 37 per cent <strong>of</strong> respondents in a survey for Latinobarómetro (2004) indicated that it is possible to bribe a judge to receive a reduced sentence (see Figure 4.9). Other Central
American countries have similar trends, even if they are not as acute as Guatemala (Map 4.3). In Africa, the chances <strong>of</strong> a murder resulting in a con- viction are only around 11 per cent. This figure increases to 18 per cent in South Africa and stands in comparison to 56 per cent in the United States and 61 per cent in the United Kingdom (UNODC, 2005, p. 13). <strong>The</strong> inability to prosecute <strong>of</strong>fenders, corruption, and the absence <strong>of</strong> adequate prison facilities foster a perception <strong>of</strong> impunity for homicide. <strong>The</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> justice reform in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic highlights that better coopera- tion among the police, justice, and correctional services (supported by integrated information systems) and embedding justice reform in a broader multi- sector strategy <strong>of</strong> violence and crime prevention can help in dealing with impunity and increase the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> institutional responses to crime (UNODC and World Bank, 2007, pp. 126–27). Conclusion: knowledge gaps and policy implications <strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> international homicide data as an in- direct means to assess the global burden <strong>of</strong> armed violence is in its infancy. This chapter has made use <strong>of</strong> extensive and rigorous data gathering and analysis in order to provide a comprehensive snapshot <strong>of</strong> the scale and magnitude <strong>of</strong> lethal non-conflict armed violence. It has also attempted to provide some indication <strong>of</strong> recent trends, and <strong>of</strong> the possible spatial, demographic, and socio- economic factors that might affect levels <strong>of</strong> armed violence. Some cross-national comparisons <strong>of</strong> homicide levels have recently begun to appear in development- related publications, including the Human Develop- Box 4.5 Violent death in the city Received wisdom claims that victimization by more serious crimes is correlated with increases in the proportion <strong>of</strong> the population <strong>of</strong> a country living in larger cities. Criminologists frequently argue that urban density is thought to be associated with crime, since greater concentrations <strong>of</strong> people lead to competition for limited resources, greater stress, and increased conflict (Glaeser and Sacerdote, 1996; Van Dijk, 1998, p. 69; Naudé, Prinsloo, and Ladikos, 2006). When it comes to urban armed violence, however, its frequency and effect is strikingly heterogeneous and it results from multiple causes. It is linked to factors such as the drug trade, the availability <strong>of</strong> weapons, and forms <strong>of</strong> social organization such as street gangs and militia or quasi-militia groups (Small Arms Survey, 2007). While not all urban violence ends in homicide, homicide rates are related to more general violent acts. <strong>The</strong> complexity <strong>of</strong> urban armed violence is highlighted by the fact that there is no clear correlation between city population and levels <strong>of</strong> urban homicide (Small Arms Survey, 2007). In order to provide further insight into differences between urban and rural homicide rates, research was undertaken to identify homicide rates per 100,000 population in major cities. Data for the largest available city in 67 countries was located. <strong>The</strong> cities ranged from a population <strong>of</strong> just over 6,000 persons to more than 14 million persons. <strong>The</strong> median city population was slightly over 1.2 million. <strong>The</strong> results <strong>of</strong> this comparison are presented in Figure 4.10 and are summarized by subregion. Insufficient data prevented meaningful comparisons being carried out for Africa, Oceania, and Asia, with the exception <strong>of</strong> East Asia. <strong>The</strong> methodology for major city/rest <strong>of</strong> country comparisons is described in full in the on-line appendix (www.genevadeclaration.org). A common theme in the literature is that crime levels are higher in urban areas than rural areas (UN-HABITAT, 2006). While this may be true for North America, Central Asia and Transcaucasia, West and Central Europe, and South-east Europe, the reverse appears to be true for East Europe, Central America, and East Asia. South America shows only a small difference between urban and rural homicide rates. A first possible explanation for differences may relate to differing degrees <strong>of</strong> urbanization in the rest <strong>of</strong> the country. <strong>The</strong> ‘major city’ rate may, for instance, be compared with a ‘rest <strong>of</strong> country’ rate that itself contains many large urban centres. A look at urbanization rates only partially explains the differences, however. While a low urbanization rate in Central Asia and Transcaucasia (50 per cent) corresponds with a homicide rate one and a half times as high in the largest city as for rest <strong>of</strong> country, the pattern is more complicated in other subregions. <strong>The</strong> four countries examined in East Europe and the five countries in East Asia, for example, show average urbanization rates (both around 60 per cent) lower than those for the countries examined in North America (80 per cent) and West and Central Europe (73 per cent). 23 This is despite the fact that East Europe and East Asia show higher homicide rates for ‘rest <strong>of</strong> country’ than major cities. ## 85 NON- CO N F L I C T A R M E D V I O L E N C E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Page 1 and 2:
G L O B A L www.genevadeclaration.o
Page 3 and 4:
G L O B A L www.genevadeclaration.o
Page 5 and 6:
Foreword Armed vio
Page 7 and 8:
Contents Executive Summary ........
Page 9 and 10:
About the Geneva <
Page 11 and 12:
of direct conflict
Page 13 and 14:
Executive Summary Armed</st
Page 15 and 16:
Figure 1 captures graphically the d
Page 17 and 18:
This report also finds that the aft
Page 19 and 20:
��
Page 21 and 22:
Chapter One Direct Conflict Death <
Page 23 and 24:
approaches that featured cross-nati
Page 25 and 26:
us, non-state and intercommunal arm
Page 27 and 28:
niques and inclusion requirements (
Page 29 and 30:
Figure 1.2 Estimates of</st
Page 31 and 32:
North Africa Sudan 7,284 1,098 2,60
Page 33 and 34:
Map 1.1 The GBAV c
Page 35 and 36:
�� Increasing di
Page 37 and 38:
Table 1.4 Estimated direct conflict
Page 39 and 40:
Table 1.7 Direct conflict death rat
Page 41 and 42:
accounts overwhelmingly for the glo
Page 43 and 44:
Chapter Two The Ma
Page 45 and 46: Sexual violence in armed conflict a
Page 47 and 48: continued for six months due to the
Page 49 and 50: Table 2.1 Comparison of</st
Page 51 and 52: of sexual violence
Page 53 and 54: can be explained by the relatively
Page 55 and 56: Box 2.3 A very dark number: direct
Page 57 and 58: Photo Victims of v
Page 59 and 60: Table 2.5 Violent death estimates f
Page 61 and 62: Chapter Three Armed</strong
Page 63 and 64: ized by a clear victory of<
Page 65 and 66: On the basis of Ch
Page 67 and 68: illegal war economies, including th
Page 69 and 70: standards issued by UNHCR emphasize
Page 71 and 72: Table 3.4 Risk factors for youth vi
Page 73 and 74: Map 3.2 The youth
Page 75 and 76: Given the potential importance <str
Page 77 and 78: interventions based on identified n
Page 79 and 80: Chapter Four Lethal Encounters: Non
Page 81 and 82: violence in Mexico in 2007-08 (BBC,
Page 83 and 84: comparisons between regions <strong
Page 85 and 86: tively. The Caribb
Page 87 and 88: the homicide count is derived. None
Page 89 and 90: Table 4.1 National-level homicide t
Page 91 and 92: sistent increases during the time p
Page 93 and 94: Box 4.3 Sex, age, and armed violenc
Page 95: The police are sat
Page 99 and 100: evidence on the patterns and distri
Page 101 and 102: Chapter Five What’s in a Number?
Page 103 and 104: observe that war has negative effec
Page 105 and 106: Box 5.1 Accounting for the costs <s
Page 107 and 108: of conflict and co
Page 109 and 110: Table 5.2 The soci
Page 111 and 112: In Uganda, a protracted armed confl
Page 113 and 114: �� Lost product
Page 115 and 116: Figure 5.3 Potential gains in life
Page 117 and 118: playing a role in promoting an end
Page 119 and 120: 16 Specifically, the health and yea
Page 121 and 122: Chapter Six Armed
Page 123 and 124: (Myrttinen, 2003, p. 38). T
Page 125 and 126: NATO Forces and The</strong
Page 127 and 128: go missing, or are killed. In such
Page 129 and 130: disaggregated data is still not ava
Page 131 and 132: Acts of sexual vio
Page 133 and 134: Dowry-related violence A dowry is t
Page 135 and 136: sex ratios reported at birth is pre
Page 137 and 138: Chapter Seven Other Forms o
Page 139 and 140: will likely emerge. Armed</
Page 141 and 142: Gangs in Central America Central Am
Page 143 and 144: ��
Page 145 and 146: The absence <stron
Page 147 and 148:
Table 7.1 Recorded cases of
Page 149 and 150:
Figure 7.2 Kidnap for ransom cases
Page 151 and 152:
armed violence, since, beyond the d
Page 153 and 154:
Bibliography Executive Summary CNP
Page 155 and 156:
Burr, M. 1993. A Working Document:
Page 157 and 158:
Thieren, Michael. 2005. ‘Health I
Page 159 and 160:
——. 2008. Small Arms Survey 200
Page 161 and 162:
Nations-Survey-on-Crime-Trends-and-
Page 163 and 164:
ground Paper. Geneva</stron
Page 165 and 166:
--. 2003. ‘Masculinities and Masc
Page 167 and 168:
ights-and-wrongs-of</strong
Page 169 and 170:
Boxes List of Illu
Page 171 and 172:
Map 4.1 Homicide rates per 100,000
Page 173 and 174:
Figure 2.1 Typology of</str
show all

Global Burden of Armed Violence - The Geneva Declaration on ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?