There is no stopping of violence worldwide. Starting from post-panchayat election violence in Odisha to the Russia-Ukraine war, everywhere the human conflict in violent form is writ large. Currently, as many as 40 counties are fighting wars in different fronts globally. Only in 20th century it is estimated that as many as 191 million people lost their lives due to armed conflict. Out of these, nearly fifty percent people are civilians.
Further to this, it is revealed that approximately 9 people died per 1 lakh population due to interpersonal violence every year. Interpersonal violence covers a vast range of violent behaviour covering physical to psychological. Some global reports reveal that over 1.6 million people die due to violence every year. It is to mention here that people aged between 15 to 44 years suffer more and it is the leading cause of death for this age group worldwide. Needless to say , violence causes physical and psychological injuries to a larger section of people globally.
Both Injuries and violence have a negative impact on national economy by putting burden on healthcare and law enforcement. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) has emphasized on prevention of violence and injuries. Preventing these will help the countries to achieve their goals.
The World Health Organisation defines violence as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. This definition of violence has a wide coverage. It covers many forms of violence.
The forms of violence are rapidly changing. Ranging from interpersonal violence to collective violence, these forms have changed the structural and functional dynamics. For example , the rising trend in suicide and self-harm among the youths are increasing. It is reported that 7 lakh people lost their lives by committing suicide in 2021. We understand that the ultimate end of any form of violence is perilous to society. We know it. Our rationality and morality very often bend before aggression and dominance. In many cases, it seems that society has accepted violence and has given a space in its societal structure.
The areas of concern for violence and its impact attract many think tanks. The dimensions of violence are different but the indigenous nature is same.
Violence is contagious. There is no panacea for this. It is growing like an epidemic. Often we blame a particular class, religion, race, community or gender for the violence. But real truth is that it has become an insidious undercurrent behaviour which cannot be ignored because of our evolution as human beings. Socio-psychological theories of violence narrate the concept of violence and causes of violence as biological sub structure or psychological superstructure of the individual or individual relationship to the social environment. Violence is a serious violation of human rights. Human rights are meant to safeguard the human lives, their dignity and their freedom at every point of time. But it has been ignored repeatedly. Of course, we do have international and national level of laws to protect the human rights. Sometimes human rights issues have an effect over governance and policy decision. We blame governance and its interrelated institutions.
Human rights have categorized the forms of violence into many types. It can be defined from State sponsored to traditional to individual. Any form of violence is pathological. It asphyxiates the human relationship, human lives and wellbeing. It shuns the value of human equality. We need a response to handle this. The response may be personal or collective. Those can be achieved only through community and interpersonal based social action. As a sociologist, I firmly believe denial and fear for the violence should be stopped from the micro level. Another factor which provokes violence is the relative approach of society towards this.
Civil society and community engagement in safety are considered as the immediate solution for violence. The atavistic societal institutions like family, caste, religion and education are losing their grips on citizens as well as less interfering on their socialization process. Further these institutions are not keen in embedding the moral values in local policy making. A new form of civil society should come forward to shape the victimization and citizen wellbeing. The emerging forms of new communities are moulding the intra and inter relationship among the individuals. Over all the civil society and communities should compel the moral obligations and engross the social justice.
To some extent our social narratives and social communication are also equally responsible for augmenting violence. We give more attention to violence and promote violence, knowingly or unknowingly. It is whether in the form of movie or mythological stories. We live in a country where non-violence has grown up from a movement to an ideology. But still we fail to practice it. Violence is a heedless and impetuous behaviour; on the other hand non-violence embarks a new pure form of conscience and self-policing. We should practice the Gandhian ideology of nonviolence where you fight with extreme brazen force without using the force in return.
Social wellbeing can be used as an opposing force against violence. Social wellbeing consists of social security and its associates elements. It can be achieved by tolerance, equality, individual welfare, respect and forgiveness. The role of the State and its institutions are equally important to channelise those into individuals. In addition to this, violence victimization should be handled in human ways. Society should learn how to take care of violence victims rather than label or stigmatize them.
We need a serious introspection and community engagement to curb violence. A national planning is needed for violence prevention. Violence prevention policies must be incorporated into educational and social policies. We are living in a welfare global State. Humanity is the common thread which binds us. Unless and until we feel the core inside of human beings and we pay respect for the humanitarian values, violence will be a regular phenomenon.
(Dr Parida is an Assistant Professor in Sociology. email id: abash.parida@gmail.com)