The Red Cross’s new report “Alone in the crisis?”, has looked at acts of violence and shootings and shows that a majority of acts of violence today take place in areas that already have worse conditions to deal with various types of acts of violence.
– There is less public presence, higher unemployment and, above all, often a little lack of trust in the public sector, says Johann Knegge, national director of the Swedish Red Cross.
Unaware of being influenced
Despite the fact that there is often a great deal of local involvement in many of the areas, it can be difficult to capture the negative effects that acts of violence have on a local community. The effects can also last for a long time, affect school results and can lead to increased stigmatization of the area.
– The very negative effects remain much longer than in normal accidents, says Johann Knegge.
At the same time, many residents are not aware that they are actually affected by the violence in their immediate area, which creates insecurity.
– You change your behavior, you take other paths, you don’t dare to go out yourself at certain times of the day or let the children go out, says Johann Knegge and adds:
– The place you are supposed to feel safe in, you no longer feel safe in.
The far-reaching effects cannot be solved by urgent measures and the effects can affect people for a long time, according to the report.
– They can sit for several years, you pass the places where the crime takes place in your everyday life, says Johan Knegge.
There is a strong local force for action
The Red Cross is now calling for a greater awareness of the local anchoring so that the situation can improve.
– If you don’t know about each other’s roles, the public, civil society and business life before a crisis, it is very difficult to establish cooperation during an ongoing event, says Johann Knegge.
A greater awareness could have facilitated cooperation and after a serious event it is important that the support is deployed according to local needs, that it is proactive and outreach.
Despite the major challenges, the report believes that the areas designated as socio-economically disadvantaged have a strong local power to act. There is also a great deal of trust between neighbors – a force that the Red Cross believes that several actors should be able to build on.
– It’s not that there aren’t many committed people working on solutions locally, it has to come into play when the public sector builds its crisis preparedness.