Poverty And Structural Violence

Structural violence by definition is the physical and/or psychological harm cause by impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social, political, and economic systems. Structural violence can come in many forms that one may not be able to detect, but there are four forms that are the most important. The first form is poverty, then overpopulation, then hunger, obesity and malnutrition, and lastly, there is pollution and global warming. Structural violence is the systemic violation of the human rights of individuals and communities to a healthy, peaceful, and dignified life. Poverty is identified as structural violence because it represents a gross inequity, which poses a challenge for achieving global security and well-being. In many countries, …show more content…
Throughout the 20th century, 44 million people died due to man-made famines. In most sub-Saharan African countries it is nearly impossible to raise and harvest crops due to an abundance of wandering refugees and soldiers who are constantly raiding through the fields. Most of the world’s hungry are victims of structural violence because of the actions of other humans such as warfare, increasing poverty rates, and the collapse of many economic systems. Although there are millions who are starving, there are also millions who are overeating, which leads the world to having 1.1 billions people who are in fact, overweight. 350 billion people are considered to be obese, as well as malnourished because their diets lack key nutrients that their bodies need to sustain life, which in turn lowers a person’s mortality rate. Obesity is a worldwide epidemic, but it is not solely based on overeating, it is also based on high sugar and fat content found in many foods. One reason this is considered structural violence is because healthy foods are more expensive, and the food that is unhealthy, and high in sugar and fat content is cheap, so many people have to opt for the unhealthier foods just so they can keep their families