Biblioteca Digital

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti left the already impoverished country in a state of crisis. As years passed by reconstruction seemed like an unattainable task and violence, crime and poverty where taking away the happiness and hopes of the Haitian people. The destruction of the education system and therefore the weakening of the system meant a condition of ignorance on many topics, being sexual education one of the most affected. When institutions can’t cope the needs of the citizens and there’s a misconception of what sexuality means, sex is then transformed as an exchangeable good. Women, adolescents and girls found themselves in an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and impunity which normalizes violence in all of its forms, being sexual violence the most relevant one. The work of the Canadian and Haitian Red Cross has been to put in place cultural programs that de-normalize violence and empower young leaders to be agents of transformation in their communities.

Violence expresses itself through different forms depending on the life stage of a person. Bullying as a mean of discrimination is one of the most common violent practices found in schools all over the Americas. The difference between Bullying and other forms of violence consists in the systematic process of depreciation (and even de-humanization) of a student to the point the victim believes suicide is the only way out. As with other forms of violence, vulnerable communities such as the LGBTQ bear an unfair share of the consequences. The following two papers provide tools to school administrators and stake-holders for creating safe learning environments, in which vulnerable communities and different students can feel included. Though it may not cause the majority of violent deaths in the Americas, harassment in schools has profound and serious consequences for future generations and national economies.

The present report studies the dynamics of crime and violence in the region: their causes, characteristics and rationale, as well as the policies designed to combat them. Rather than being a homogeneous phenomenon throughout the region, violence and crime rates vary drastically between States and even more at the subnational level. Small municipalities account for the majority of offenses committed in the whole region. Gender and age determine as well the probability of engaging in criminal/violent activities (or being a victim of them): were young, male citizens find themselves into the most vulnerable populations. Contrary to the common thinking, poverty per se doesn’t lead to higher rates of violence and/or crime. On the contrary, economic development at a certain point increases the benefits for offenders to engage in criminal activities. Studies show that policies focused on reactive response to criminal activities and to the augmentation of incarcerated population are ineffective and sometimes could backfire. Instead, comprehensive policies that understand the heterogeneous and complex nature of crime by focusing on prevention, often show better results.

Las estrategias de policiamiento (anglicismo para policing) han sido implementadas a través de una serie de oleadas en América Latina y de especial manera en Colombia. Siendo el Community Policing la primera estrategia de policiamiento adoptada institucionalmente durante inicios del Siglo XXI, la siguiente y más nueva oleada ha sido aquella del Hot Spot Policing. Las estrategias de zonas críticas han ido desplazando poco a poco a las iniciativas de policía comunitaria, aunque pequeños rezagos de cada tipo de policiamiento se mantienen en el actuar de la Policía Nacional de Colombia. Desde 2008 se han implantado diferentes estrategias de seguridad para zonas críticas en Bogotá y Medellín, cuyos resultados aún no han sido estudiados. El presente artículo estudia el planeamiento e implementación de los planes históricos de dichas ciudades para emitir un concepto evaluativo sobre su eficiencia.

La Violence Sexuelle et Basée sur le Genre (VSBG) est un phénomène de préoccupant expansion en Haïti. Avec l’information disponible, 28% des femmes entre 15 et 49 ans ont été victimes de violence sexuelle à un moment de sa vie. La VSBG, bien qui est plus commun en femmes et filles, est aussi présente en garçons et jeunes hommes. Entre 2015 et 2017, 33 hommes sont arrivés à centres de Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), dont 70% étaient des mineurs. En plus, la majorité de cas qui sont reçus dans l’hôpital de MSF sont des filles d’environ 10 ans qui en certains occasions ne sachent pas qu’elles ont été victimes de VSBG. La stigmatisation, le pauvre accès à l’éducation et la peur sont des conditions qui mènent aux victimes à ne pas dénoncer ces actes de violence, en contribuant à une perpétuation de l’impunité. MSF, en partenariat avec la société civile haïtienne, a créé la clinique Pran Men’m (créole haïtien pour « prends ma main ») avec l’objectif d’offrir de l’assistance médical et psychologique aux victimes de VSBG.