This is a well written article but you should know that I disagree with the conclusion.
The kind of violence you're talking about, this "culture of violence" can change. It can change within as little as generation.
Something can be done, it should be done and there is no excuse for a culture of fear. Never fear anything that bleeds the same color as you no matter what they look like on the outside.
Pull back a couple millimeters of skin and we're all the same color.
We all bleed the same color.
This is why the USA has a culture of owning guns. The need to defend your life, your family and your property from all threats. Learn how to defend, and realize that this is your duty to your family and your community. If just one person allows themselves to be treated this way, then quickly everyone cowers in fear as well. But if one person stood up and said "I will not let this stand!". They would quickly be surrounded by others who feel the same and that is how you end it. I say defend yourself and make them bleed in the process. Remind them they are vulnerable.
But you shouldn't have to defend.
The thing that can be done right now is to teach them differently.
Why are they robbing? Is it for the thrill? Or is their economic condition as such, that this is something that they have resorted to? People won't engage in high risk criminal enterprises if there are easier and more lucrative ways to make a living that they can be successful at.
Why are they raping? Rape is never about sex, it is about control. You have a culture where machismo is extremely important. A woman who is less submissive, less meek is more likely to raped in a situation like that. I'm not trying to blame the victim here, but I am saying that if your culture prizes submissive women, then acting weak and yet not being submissive is going to trigger this. Now they've been raped, now what? The culture expects women to be submissive, so now nothing.
Guess who gets to teach these people their core values?
Women. Women are mothers and the values they instill in their children are the values those children will carry with them for a lifetime.
Target the women, give them tools, education and resources even microfinance to pull themselves up. Make it a part of the program, to impress upon women the need to teach their children that all people are created equally. That these acts are shameful, disgraceful and dishonor them.
That's how you solve this. Do that and this stops within a generation.
Thank you for your comment. You are so right...... you just gave me wonderful idea for a community project I have been meaning to start. South Africa is not far behind on the guns though. Believe it or not, I don't go ANYWHERE without my gun. Like underpants lol ... The regulations here for owning a gun is just very strict. Hence the reason that there are so many illegal fire arms. Everyone is out to protect themselves. Instead of coming together to actually clear up issues, people tend to just do what they believe in. There is an absolute diversion between all cultures and races. The absolute most horrifying about all of this is that people get away with all the crime. Ever heard the saying, churces are empty because jails are full? Everything is going downhill. I am not a racist and I believe everyone should have their little place in the sun, but the rainbow nation is overpowering the sun over here. BUT I totally agree with you by what you said about empowering women. Very wise words indeed...
Thank you and I'm glad I could help. There is always something to be done about any situation. All dichotomies are false.
Ease of legal gun ownership is key to controlling violence in the short term. Areas of the USA with the highest per capita legal gun ownership rates also have the lowest crime rates, this is not a coincidence. It's because you know damn well that stealing and terrorizing people will have a price in blood if you try. It raises the risk vs reward to the point that it's not worth it.
The BS about racial differences is just that BS. Literally the genetic differences between any two people could fit on a floppy disk. In fact it's so tiny, that one of my future projects is a blockchain specifically for health and medical data, with genetic information storage as part of the key structure.
This would be as a hedge against a "grey goo" event from the day when someone decides to download an app to their body and the app "goes viral".
Anyways yes people learn from their mommas. Their mommas need to be empowered to educate their children that this situation is just not right and that honor is far more important than what it is in those cultures right now.
When you die, this is the legacy you leave behind. Do you want a legacy that is more of the same, or do you want to be the one to change the world?