Crime, Victimization, and Globalization. Law Essay

Crime, Victimization, and Globalization
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Introduction
There is no doubt that humanity has worked over the years towards increasing their interactions. The desire to interact has led to the speeding of movements and exchanges all over the globe. Globalization has come to imply the increased interconnectedness and interdependence of individuals and nations. Globalization includes two major aspects. Firstly, it entails the opening of international borders to facilitate the flow of products, services, individuals, and ideas among others. The presence of closed international borders poses a threat to free movement. Secondly, globalization involves the changes in institutions and policies that are meant to facilitate and promote such flows. While globalization is a good idea, it has accelerated crime and victimization.
The exploitation of people
Globalization has allowed transnational companies to operate in Congo to the detriment of the locals. History has recorded many instances of corporations siphoning off Africa’s riches. National and transnational companies take advantage of globalization to collaborate with rebel groups in Congo. Congo’s minerals like gold, tin, and coltan are needed in the manufacture of phones and electronics. With Congo holding an estimated 80% of the world’s deposits for these minerals, rebel groups have taken over the control of the deposits. Foreign organizations take advantage of globalization to collaborate with illegal, transnational networks that facilitate illicit flows of extractives from Congo (Banwell, 2014). These corporations are from different nations and compete to access and control the exploitation, sale, and illegal transportation of the minerals in the country. The result has been persistent abject poverty in a country that is blessed with plentiful resources. In 2002, the United Nations observed that Western mining companies dealing in precious minerals were heavily involved in a systematic robbery in Congo’s mineral wealth. These companies worked with a network of cross-border elites to achieve their purpose.
The collaboration between rebel groups and national and transnational companies has fueled violence in Congo. The rebel groups fight to maintain control over the mines and continue selling the minerals to national and transnational companies. The long chain of people involved in the illegal business is huge and complex. The monies paid to the rebel groups by the companies are used to acquire more weapons. This has over the years facilitated a self-financing war economy that depends on the exploitation of minerals (Banwell, 2014).
Rape and sexual violence
Rape has been a critical tool in the exploitation of minerals in Congo. The combatants on the ground have to find ways of terrorizing the people to continue exploiting the minerals. This means they have to displace villagers to gain access to more land. Rape is an essential weapon for forcing people to flee from their homes. The massive rape of women and girls has earned the eastern Congo the name “the rape capital of the world” (Banwell, 2014). When the combatants rape women, this creates fear that forced people to abandon their land and flee the...