THE NEED FOR NONVIOLENT SOLUTIONS

See the current cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at http://costofwar.com/

Reducing Local Violence
Reducing Violence from Warfare
Promoting a Culture of Peace 

REDUCING LOCAL VIOLENCE

Local Attitudes Toward Viiolence in Worcester

Are you aware of the physical violence in our community of Worcester?  Violence occurs in the home: child abuse, domestic violence or battering and murder. Violence occurs in the community: armed robbery, drug related crime, murder, school violence and bullying, rape gang violence, hate crime, suicide and other assaults.

The consequences of such local violence include

• Physical injury and death
• Emotionally scarred adults
• Emotionally scarred children; the abused often become the abusers
• Family disruption
• Residual fear
• Large costs to society for rehabilitation programs, justice systems and jails.
• For perpetrators, jail time leads to interrupted or ended education and/or employment difficulties and/or a life of crime as evidenced by the high rate of recidivism. 

Such violence can be reduced or eliminated across a wide array of situations through the use of the techniques and attitudes of nonviolent solutions.  These include effective communications including listening, anger management, conflict resolution, mediation, and reconciliation or forgiveness.

Local Violence Other than Physical

When I was a child, I learned the adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” But it’s not true. People are hurt all the time by angry outbursts, demeaning words about looks or clothes or speech and hate speech related to race, color, religion, country of origin, etc. Children are especially vulnerable. There is non-physical bullying and teasing. This can be avoided by teaching and practicing the concepts of nonviolent solutions.

REDUCING VIOLENCE FROM WARFARE AROUND THE WORLD

See the current cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at http://costofwar.com/

The financial cost of America's current wars is almost incomprehensible. Let’s consider the other consequences of warfare, whether from wars between nations, terrorism, civil wars or genocide  “The World at War” is the topic for the January 2009 PERSPECTIVES, the Newsletter of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Charts describe fourteen “Ongoing Significant Conflicts” and twenty-one “Low-Level Political Violence or Conflicts in Suspension that May Restart. Carnage from this warfare is greatly increased by easily-available weaponry. 

Each battle death is a tragedy for the combatant and his/her loved ones.
And we need to be aware that it’s not just the battle deaths. When we read the latest figures on battle deaths, we may not think about all the other consequences:
Permanent physical injuries (far more than the battle deaths in Iraq)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (one in four of Iraq veterans)
Infrastructures destroyed or badly damaged
(homes, public buildings, industries, utilities, roads, bridges, schools)
Civilian casualties – far more than battle deaths - from weapons, starvation and disease.
( at least 100,000 Iraqis dead, 2 million displaced,  2 million out of the country
War and preparation for war takes resources from needed services and infrastructure

Such warfare can often be avoided or ended by diplomacy and negotiation using the concepts of nonviolent solutions. The civil war in Ireland was ended by diplomacy.

MOVING THE WORLD TOWARDS A CULTURE OF PEACE

Nonviolent solutions are effective in making progress on the eight issues cited as the
requirements for a Culture of Peace, defined by the United Nations in 1999.  Progress results by tackling  root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among groups, individuals and nations.  For a transition from a culture of war and violence to culture of peace and non violence, we need to develop actions to:
- Foster a culture of peace through education
- Promote sustainable economic and social development
- Promote respect for all human rights*
- Ensure equality between men and women
- Support participatory communication and the free flow on information and knowledge
- Foster democratic participation
- Promote international peace and security
- Advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity

* Go to  www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ for the full text of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Declaration was developed by a commission chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was approved by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

Results of Survey of Local Attitudes Toward Violence
(conducted in the Summer of 2009)

In order to assess current attitudes towards violence and ways it may be reduced, the Center (advised by Wallace Andrews of InterGlobal Communications Group) conducted a random survey of 280 Worcester residents. This assessment of the Worcester community's perceptions establishes a benchmark that enables us to see what work we have to do and evaluate our progress.

The survey results are both encouraging and sobering. On the one hand, 94% of Worcester residents completely reject the use of physical force in conflicts between people who live together, 86% believe that most conflicts can be solved with nonviolent methods, and 82% believe that Worcester should  have a Peace Fair  with information on anger management and mediation programs.

On the other hand, only 71% feel completely secure in their neighborhoods, only 54% are sure that people are unafraid of speaking what they really think, only 36% believe that the U.S. should not use military force and 49% feel that the U.S. should maintain all its military bases its other countries.

Almost half (46%) of our respondents were able to give an example of a conflict which had affected them personally.  Many of these concerned disputes between neighbors, some involving racial tensions. Many others concerned the drugs and gangs prevalent in economically deprived neighborhoods. However, it is also seems clear that the Center must deal with a general cultural derangement, with many reporting disrespect, verbal abuse, and road rage.
 
Some examples:

R22  “We have a neighbor who just doesn't care for their property and that bothers me something awful….it's starting to look like a slum. I've tried to call the board of health, they come up and they clear for awhile, but… “

R35   “Someone on my street puts trash out on the streets. It is a back road. People aren't talking to this guy and the high school students produce trash.  R43 A woman who lives in an elderly high rise addresses a man is black who parked in wrong parking spot and is accused of being racist when she said something.”

R102   “I used to live in an unsafe neighborhood three years ago ….just crossing the street with men yelling out lude gestures and comments and things like that. They say that just because you live in this area, you must be a prostitute.”

R 201  “There is a lot of violence: drug deals. I saw a man killed, have been assaulted and feel police are not aware of these streets where people want to establish a culture of drugs and violence.”

R 73 “ I was in a store, had two grandchildren with me and a gentlemen took his shopping cart and nearly broke my ankle because he didn't want to wait in a line.
R92 Some people are very disrespectful. It seems like everybody is always in a hurry, pushing to get ahead of you. One of the most cited examples was road rage (I witnessed a girl driving with a couple in the back. She tried merging into the next lane. People started arguing and fighting ensued.)”