The TED talk video featuring Gary Haugen titled the hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now highlights the key factors in the fight against global poverty. Gary Haugen is the president and CEO of the International Justice Mission that seeks to end global poverty. He asserts that many organizations are working to eradicate poverty in different parts of the world, but there is a missing link that halts these efforts. According to Haugen & Boutros (2015), anyone willing to defeat poverty must be ready to end the violence.
Haugen Shared living testimonies of people who had been victims of violence in developing countries. For example, he narrated the story of Venus, a woman from Zambia who ushered him into the world of poverty. Venus is a widow and a mom of three kids who had walked for miles to the capital city to tell her story. She described how it feels to sleep hungry and the pain of watching her youngest son slide into malnutrition. Venus and her family were doing well until Brutus violently threw them out of their house. Haugen agrees that none of the poverty-alleviation programs could stop people like Brutus from violating the rights of Venus and her children because they are not meant for that purpose (PR Newswire, 2015). Haugen also narrated the story of Griselda, a young girl who was raped in the streets in broad daylight as they came from church.
According to Haugen, these two women are not the only victims. Poor women and girls aged between 15 years and 44 years are victims of sexual violence and abuse. He asserts that violence and abuse cause more deaths than malaria, accidents, and war combined (PR Newswire, 2015). Fortunately, Haugen believes that violence can be stopped by strengthening the judicial systems, particularly in developing countries. He explains the importance of efforts towards stopping violence against the poor like Venus and Griselda. Violence and abuse drive the poor further into poverty and prevents them from rising above the poverty line.
After watching the TED talk video, social class, poverty, and discrimination define the majority of developing nations. Similarly, race, ethnicity, gender, age, and schooling are interconnected and closely related to social class, poverty, and discrimination. The factors are strongly related and interconnected. For example, if someone belongs to a social class that can afford education, then they can protect themselves and escape poverty in the end. Similarly, race, gender, and age do not matter when someone is rich as they can hire private security. In Africa, for example, private security firms provide security to the rich whereas the poor who cannot afford to buy protection suffer from the lack of law enforcement (Haugen & Boutros, 2015). When it comes to how these factors are unrelated, we can think about the example of the woman who had called 911 to report someone who had broken into her house. However, due to budgetary cuts, officers were not available on weekends to rescue her. Her case shows that it does not matter the race or ethnicity that you belong. As long as no law enforcement is available, there is nothing someone can do against violence and crime in general.
Overall, Haugen believes that the problem is not that there are no laws to protect the poor, but the absence of law enforcement. Through enforcement of the existing laws, for example, Cambodia managed to lower the number of children in the commercial sex trade and exploitation of minors. In addition, models such as IJM have been successful in holding the victims of crime accountable. Thus, strengthening the judicial systems will end violence in developing countries and eventually end global poverty altogether.
References
Haugen, G. A., & Boutros, V. (2015). The locust effect: Why the end of poverty requires the end of violence. Oxford University Press.
PR Newswire. (2015, April 20). New TED Talk Gives Reason Why Poverty Still Exists, Highlights Missing Link. Retrieved from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ted-talk-gives-reason-why-poverty-still-exists-highlights-missing-link-300068628.html
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