VIOLENCE IN THE CITYUnderstanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence

Alys Willman, PhDSocial Cohesion & Violence Prevention Team, World Bank

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

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 DepartmentSocial

Development DepartmentVIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social

Development Department

Robbery and assault were the most common forms of victimization in all sites (except Port-au-Prince)

Experiences of sexual violence were alarminglyhigh in some communities, and often occurred in public spaces.

Different forms ofviolence are inter-related.

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

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

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

RecommendationsRebuilding Trust: • Send clear signals that the situation will

change• Address the trend toward private securityAddressing Relationships Between different

forms of Violence• Prevent domestic violence; take a life-cycle

approach

VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

RecommendationsSupporting Community Capacities for Action• Upgrading infrastructure as a catalyzing force• Improving data collection and sharing to

empower collective actionImproving Coordination of Policies and Programs• Connecting national, state, municipal initiatives• Supporting government-civil society

coordination

VIOLENCE IN THE CITY Social Development Department

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