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Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age.

Albert Einstein

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“I am no longer myself”

Photographic Reportage

Telling images

RSS IRIN News

  • Editor’s take: Data responsibility starts with you
  • Long road to peace: An Indigenous protest movement emerges in Colombia
  • EXCLUSIVE: More than 50 women accuse aid workers of sex abuse in Congo Ebola crisis
  • For Rohingya refugees, patchwork justice leaves crimes unpunished
  • Briefing: The growing emergency on Myanmar’s newest battleground

Coronavirus as a burning glass for digital risks?

WRITTEN BY Thomas-Gabriel Rüdiger

The digital space represents a global interaction and communication sphere for all people. In this sphere children connect with young people and adults across almost all countries, cultures and age groups. The constant improvement and implementation of automatic translation programs, for example in social media, also means that language barriers in the digital space are becoming increasingly blurred.

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How organized crime is expanding during the COVID-19 crisis

Over the last century, organized crime has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to rapidly adapt to mutated social, political and economic conditions. While in some cases this adaptation was the result of a reactive response to improved legislation targeting their interests, in many others it was ignited by the pursuit of new possibilities for economic profit. Examples in this sense include how quickly criminal groups adapted to new scenarios created, for instance, by geopolitical changes, the integration of global markets or the generalized use of the world wide web as a marketplace for a variety of licit and illicit goods and services.

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Evolution from a social animal to a virtual animal? Using New Tech and AI Responsibly During and Post-COVID-19 Crisis Period

WRITTEN BY Irakli Beridze and Maria Eira

“Man is by nature a social animal” proclaimed Aristotle. This characteristic has made us organize into complex hierarchical societies where individuals are interdependent to satisfy basic necessities. Although we all know that social distancing is the most effective way to contain the spread of coronavirus, this is something biologically unnatural for humans.[1] In this health emergency, many governments have decided to impose strict measures to limit social interactions to an absolute minimum. Lockdowns, limitations of movement of people and closure of borders have all been necessary measures for the good of societies. 

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Covid-19 pandemic and illicit drugs

WRITTEN BY Alessandra Liquori O’Neil

Lessons from Italy

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, no clear evidence has emerged of a significant decrease in the supply of drugs at the global level, including in Italy, even after the quarantine was extended to the entire country.

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The principles of equality and non-discrimination under viral attack: Stigma, hate speech, xenophobia, racism and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic

WRITTEN BY Odhran McCarthy and Sophie Van De Meulengraaf

The principle of equality – the belief that all human beings are born free and equal – along with the correlated prohibition on discrimination are foundations of society. Equality is one of the most basic aspects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a pillar on which the United Nations (UN) was founded in 1945. Yet, following the emergence of the coronavirus in December 2019, this long-established fundamental human right is being increasingly threatened. Indeed, as the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, observed, “COVID-19 is not just a health issue; it can also be a virus that exacerbates xenophobia, hate and exclusion.”[1]

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Partner and domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis

WRITTEN BY Wim Hardyns, Ines Keygnaert, Koen Ponnet and Christophe Vandeviver

Introduction

The global spread of COVID-19 has dramatically impacted our lives. In an effort to contain the virus, governments across the globe have resorted to social distancing, home lockdowns, and isolation policies. However, such measures can have a negative impact on people’s mental well-being, put pressure on their relationships and cause stress, thus potentially contributing to an increase in violence and aggression within households. A recent review of the psychological impact of quarantine measures confirms that isolation can produce several negative emotional effects, such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, emotion regulation problems, depression, and increased feelings of stress.[1] Experiencing stress and powerlessness is associated with an increased risk of violent victimization.[2] Perpetrator and victims often know each other.[3] The combination of stress-inducing factors due to the lockdown and potentially living together with a perpetrator of violence may trigger an increase and worsening of various forms of violence within the household.[4]

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The young people of Mali: Key players against Covid-19

WRITTEN BY Yehiya Boré

The world is shaken by an unprecedented health crisis. Its multiple ravages are echoing all over the world and the media seem to revel in it as information concerning the situation becomes vital. Needless to say, Covid-19 made its appearance at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of the province of Hubei in China, and at the start of 2020, continued to spread in an overpowering and dominant way, not only characterized by its speed but also in its capacity of adaptation across all continents of the world. China has been overwhelmed. In France, there are no longer yellow vest protests. Italy no longer sings and the art world present in the country has closed its doors. It would seem that America, in tears, suddenly forgot its superpower.

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Community resilience: insights from UNICRI experience in the Sahel-Maghreb to adapt, bend, and change – but not to break

WRITTEN BY Danielle Hull, Tamara Nešković, Manuela Brunero

In physics, “resilience” is a measure of how well a material, such as rubber or metal, responds to pressure by bending, adapting, and changing, without breaking. However, this concept is more than a scientific term. Resiliency can also describe a community’s ability to bounce back from pressures, including natural disasters, economic downturns, and - in the case of UNICRI’s Pilot Project on Countering Radicalisation and Violent Extremism in the Sahel-Maghreb - violence and terrorism. In the Sahel and Maghreb, the pressure on communities is certainly intense, and ever-growing. Conflicts in Libya and Mali threaten to spill over porous borders, while drought and desertification have increased food insecurity and heightened intercommunal tensions. Increasingly active extremist militant groups have brought violence and chased out tourists, which once had been an importance source of income. Now, more than ever, an approach aimed at building the resilience at a community level is needed - one that can empower communities to respond to these pressures by adapting and changing, without “breaking” and entering into conflict.

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Lived-experience-and-strengths-based strategies for persons with mental illness who offended and their family members

WRITTEN BY Ciska Wittouck, Freya Vander Laenen, Stijn Vandevelde, Sara Rowaert, Natalie Aga, Sofie Van Roeyen, Kurt Audenaert, Wouter Vanderplasschen, Tom Vander Beken

This essay describes lived-experience based strategies for persons with mental illness who offended (PMIO) and their families. These recommendations are derived from the results of a multidisciplinary research project which aimed to develop multidisciplinary strengths-based strategies for PMIO and their families.1,2 These recommendations can inspire a broad range of practitioners and policy makers from the criminal justice system as well as the mental health systems working with PMIO and their family.

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InFocus – Who is susceptible to the call of political violence?

WRITTEN BY Lieven J.R. Pauwels and Wim Hardyns (Ghent University)

A study of differential susceptibility and situational resistance to exposure to online violent extremism.

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Women and prevention of violent extremism: does it work – and if so, how?

WRITTEN BY Edit Schlaffer

Innovative approaches in countering violent extremism are not only a question of philosophy, but also of pragmatism. We need a new dialogue to strategize how to establish a consensus/springboard from which to reinforce local, national and global security.
We don’t need to analyse what has not worked, but actually focus on analysing what is working.

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