New Observatory on Violence in El Salvador

INTERVIEW /Aída Luz Santos de Escobar

One of the major obstacles to developing and implementing successful programs to prevent and reduce violence in Central America has been the lack of comprehensive and reliable information on the causes, circumstances and consequences of homicides in the region. In El Salvador, the newly created National Observatory of Violence and Crime (Obnavid) hopes to overcome this obstacle, by establishing a data collection system to make detailed maps of violence nationwide. 



The move has been welcomed in a country of 7.4 million people who, for years, have experienced very high rates of violence and impunity. In 2010, El Salvador registered 2,922 homicides by firearms, that is, 39 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Total homicide numbers reached 3,987 that year, with a rate of 54 per 100,000, one of the highest in the world.

But it's not only about the number of people who die violently. It seeks to establish the exact circumstances of death: the location, type of weapon used, motive, and above all, the perpetrator. It is also essential to learn about the victim. Where do these acts of violence take place, against whom, and why? This will enable the public and authorities to discover the true origins of violence. 



Aida Luz Santos de Escobar, president of the National Public Security Council of El Salvador, directs the observatory, which began as a directive from the highest executive office and has the institutional support necessary to make efficient diagnoses on the issue of violence in this Central American country. 



The observatory, in partnership with the Attorney General's Office, will collect statistical data from different sources during the first ten days of each month and will do the analysis in-house. The Attorney General, in addition to providing the data, will monitor for transparency and appropriate data management.

In an interview with Comunidad Segura, Aida spoke about the violence in her country, the observatory's challenges, and her vision for young victims and perpetrators of violence.



What are the current statistics on violence in El Salvador? 



Twenty-eight percent of the country's population is between 15 and 29 years and that number reaches almost 40% if you include youth between 10 to 14 years. It is estimated that about 140,000 young people are neither in school nor working. According to victimization surveys, about 24 percent reported having been affected by the crime in 2010, and homicidal violence is one of the greatest concerns to the government and the public, because gangs and organized crime disputes make up a large percentage of those violent acts.

For example, there has been a high incidence of extortion. In addition, there are about 25,000 inmates (360 per 100,000 inhabitants), 33 percent of whom are gang members. The latest study estimated the cost of violence in our country reaches 13 percent of GDP. 

How did the idea to create the observatory arise?



The National Observatory of Violence and Crime was created to comply with the National Public Security Council's (CNSP) presidential mandate to become a local security advisory organization to the President. To achieve this goal, we selected a staff with experience in the field, assigned a physical space, and provided office equipment and technology. We also facilitated the training of human resources. 



The OBNAVID is based on the CNSP's experiences in implementing the Local Violence Prevention Observatories, Human Security Management Observatories, and the only other regional violence observatory: the Central American Observatory on Violence (OCAVI). 



What is the difference between OBNAVID's data collection systems and those already in place in the National Public Security Council and in El Salvador in general? 



We hope that the OBNAVID can provide space for the analysis, negotiation and consultation of the commitments made by the different social actors involved in public safety—namely the security officials at the national, state and local levels. We aim to have a wide breadth yet intimate understanding of violent behavior and crime in El Salvador. The OBNAVID will provide a space to collect, observe, and validate important information on the indicators with the primary sources. 

What is the significance of the OBNAVID being a joint effort between the Attorney General's office and CNSP? What other institutions will be involved? 



The Attorney General's office will help to provide valuable information on rates of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse and issues related to conflict mediation, among others. That is, it will collect statistical data on violence and crime from police reports from across the country. We have also signed agreements for the following institutions to become primary sources for the observatory: the National Civil Police, the Attorney General's Office, the Medical Law Institute, Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Salvadoran Institute for Children and Adolescents; the Supreme Court and Ministry of Health. 



In short, the OBNAVID will maintain up-to-date, timely and reliable information, to help us understand the direct and indirect causes of violence and crime at the national, departmental and local levels.



What practices, in your opinion, have worked best to prevent and reduce armed violence in your country? 



Municipio Libre de Armas (Town without Guns), which was developed in the municipalities of Ilopango and San Martín, in 2005. The aim was to control of the circulation of firearms, and assess its impact on gun violence. The experiences of San Martín and Ilopango, served as background for the campaign "Less Arms, More Life," developed in the municipality of Santa Ana in the west of the country, in 2008. This project included restricting the use of firearms in public places, the "Less Arms, More Life" campaign, and the local observatory for the prevention of violence.

Vedas de Armas, an initiative of the executive branch, local governments and the National Civil Police, in the most violent communities, is another strong program. 

How are youth involved in political processes that affect them?

Around 8,000 young people from 262 municipalities of the fourteen departments of the country were involved in consultations last year, through a participatory process in which they identified their main concerns. Public policy that targets youth will seek to: help forge identity and autonomy of young men and women, improveme of social integration and civic participation of youth, and promote social cohesion and sense of belonging.

Obviously, young people are considered in areas such as education (in which the objective is to eradicate illiteracy, complete basic education and increase coverage of secondary and university education). Also on the job training and placement, as it is necessary to provide temporary jobs, increase training programs' coverage, reduce youth unemployment and bring down the numbers of young people who neither study nor work. Finally, in the area of ​​health, we have specific goals to reduce the fertility rate and maternal mortality among adolescent women, and reduce the prevalence of anemia among adolescents, and the rate of murder committed against young people. 



And what about young people who break the law?

The aim is to involve youth in preventing crime, increasing school participation, expanding alternative measures to imprisonment for adolescents who break the law. Recreation, culture and sport are important; we should improve and expand the sports infrastructure, and expand and diversify the cultural offerings. 

We've taken other concrete steps in the area of ​​prevention, including improving the infrastructure in eight youth centers, the construction of eight more, and upgrading 200 plazas, parks and infrastructure imrovements in 411 schools. 

How do you think gangs should be addressed in your country?

Prevention and punishment should take a multidisciplinary approach. The National Civil Police and the Attorney General's office should be charged with investigating and prosecuting gang-related criminal activity, mainly in order to strengthen scientific research, as part of comprehensive police and prosecution training. 

Similarly, prevention and punishment plans should be drawn from the prevailing criminal policy models. And then, as various studies suggest, we must attack the potential economic sources that fund these organizations. All of this should be accompanied by reintegration programs that begin from the time of arrest. In this program, the state would oversee skills-training, with special focus on the personal, spiritual, cognitive, psychological, and vocational growth, so that the former criminal can control his temper, gain vocational skills and seek out new opportunities. 

Photos: Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública/El Salvador

Translated by Danielle Renwick