Studies in crime and Violence protection In Kenya- A tool for training

Abstract

Crime and violence matter. Violence results in 1.5 million deaths each year and is a leading cause of death worldwide for people aged 15–44 years. The ‘Global Burden of Armed Violence Report’ noted in 2008 that the deaths and injuries that occur in non-conflict or non-war settings far outweigh those from conflict and war (Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2008), and East Africa’s non-conflict homicide rates are fifth highest in the world based on available national statistics. Crime and violence hamper economic growth and development and impact upon social cohesion, governance and state stability. Moreover, violence breeds further violence; victimization and perpetration are linked and the lines between different expressions of violence from domestic to collective political violence are blurred (World Bank (2011). Thus crime and violence across the world are increasingly viewed as an urgent development issue (World Bank 2009). In Kenya, economic decline in recent decades and a steadily increasing population has contributed to high levels of poverty and inequality, which has fuelled crime. This is concentrated in Nairobi and other urban centers but is also affecting rural areas (World Bank 2011). The post-election violence in 2007-2008 may be attributed in part to social, political and economic exclusion of certain sectors of the population (World Bank, 2011). Kenyan youth (those between 15 and 35) constitute approximately a third of the Kenyan population. Around 75% of these are unemployed, and lack of opportunities contribute to increased anti-social behavior such as crime, violence, alcoholism, prostitution, drug trafficking and abuse, as well as cases of depression and suicide. Notably over 50% of the prison population is between 16 and 25 years of age (GOK, 2010). The outcome of deteriorating security at the local level is fear, reduced mobility, reduced school attendance, economic loss, erosion of trust and an overall reduced quality of life (World Bank, 2011). Fear has led Kenyans in some areas to accept informal groups offering a kind of security, thereby leading to compliance and allegiance to the said groups. The number of informal vigilante groups has been rising in recent decades and new forms of gangster activities have been noted such as that represented in the neo-traditionalist Mungiki sect characterized by extortion, murders and beheadings (Anderson, 2002). Related to this is mob justice, which is becoming commonplace in Kenya and most Kenyans have witnessed episodes of stoning or burning individuals for petty thievery. This is in part, a symptom of the lack of trust of ordinary people in the police and legal system.