Let’s nip gender-based violence manifestations in the bud before they become full blown crises

The killer cop had a case pending at the criminal justice system and those who worked with him knew that it was a matter of when not if, he would commit heinous acts as it has now happened. The fact that those close to him saw these signs and didn’t any report should worry us although not criminalizing the colleagues. We live in a society governed by many traditions and silent rules that for example would make one a villain if they reported such an observation. The burden of proof would be on the reporters of such an observed behaviour to prove what they were making reports on. This behaviour has left many incidences which have a potential to become dangerous to grow and reach the dangerous levels. This is what the Broken theory narrative seeks to address. The theory holds that more serious crime will come out of the minor breaches of the law and order in a society. We should be able to deal with gender violence perpetrators instantly to discourage others with similar inclinations. It stems from the argument that if the first window in a building is broken and isn’t repaired in time, it gives the impression that the owner of the house doesn’t care and hence window breakers will automatically invade the other windows and soon there will be no windows in the house.

This means that that gender violence perpetrator who issues threats and no one seems to act will assume that we don’t care and unleash the full danger to the hapless victim, who all along might have thought that it was just a bad joke. Our traditions/societal set ups have also perpetrated such tendencies by providing that such manifestations should be solved slowly and below cover as we pray and hope the perpetrator will improve or change. The broken window theory is supported by the solidarity theory that holds that societies can either be organic or mechanic. Organic societies express a lot of solidarity with each other and support each other through thick and thin. The traditional African societies were organic, but this has changed with industrialization and development of education and adoption of modern values. Societies have thus become more mechanic meaning all are less concerned with what happens to their neighbours.