Los Cabos, BCS. November 10, 2023. Civil society must face violence, not evade it, only then will it be possible to speak of prosperity and development.
This was stated by Jenny PearceResearch Professor at the Latin America and Caribbean Center (LACC) of the London School of Economics (LSE) during its participation in the Summit 2023 Prosperity: A Possible Purposeof Sea of Cortez Forum.
"Politics, in many parts of the world, is still very much constituted in our inability to deal with violence," Pearce said at the panel discussion International Best Practices. Building trust and resilience in the world.
"Why do people in Mexico continue to think that this is a democratic country when this violence is so deep? They are not only politicians, they are civil servants. And they are not only state officials, it is also people from civil society."
The researcher said that confronting violence must be rooted in cohesion with politicians, businessmen and the population, working together to broaden the conversation about the problems in Mexico.
The spectrum of violence and its impact on the future
When talking about violence, he continued, it should not be understood that it is only about murders, disappearances or kidnappings, but rather that there are broader problems affecting the social fabric.
As an example, he said that the damage caused by sexual violence, family violence and poverty, among many others that have wider effects when viewed from a future perspective, is rarely mentioned, since what is most affected is the mental health of people who, if left untreated, can become potential aggressors or aggressors.
"Mental health is the most important thing for society. We must have mental health because there are many traumatized people and if we do not recognize this problem, we will continue to have an unhealthy world," said the specialist in civil society and violence, pointing out that there must be changes in security policies based on joint analysis and discussions.
"We don't like to face violence, that's really why I think we are not finding adequate answers. We have to face violence (even though) it's painful, it's terrible, it's traumatic."
The police and punitive approach only solves emergencies, not development.
In the discussion it was explained that violence has different aspects, but that the policy has been to militarize the country under a prison scheme, whose characteristics are focused on the criminalization of communities.
Addressing violence in Mexico from this perspective alone cost citizens and the government 4.6 trillion pesos in 2022, equivalent to 18.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Mexico Peace Index from Institute for Economics and Peace.
These policies, however, are based on police and punitive approaches, which involve excessive spending on the purchase of weapons by governments and the payment of private security by individuals. Both actions solve emergencies, but they do not attack the underlying problems that could lead to a sustainable development as a community.
Who is it?
Jenny Pearce. Research Professor at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC) of the London School of Economics (LSE).
Political scientist specialized in Latin America. She works with anthropological and participatory research methodologies on social change, violence, security, power and participation in the region.