Underground Cyber Economy and the Implication for Africa's Development

Cybercrime and the activities of the underground cyber economy has detrimental consequences for the growth, development, and wellbeing of individuals, groups, organizations, and nations of the world. Criminal activities such as hacking, identity theft, scams, fraud, and cloning on individuals, corporate bodies, and nations are attempts by cyber criminals to illegally scoop funds out of these various treasuries for personal use, all of which have tremendous consequences for personal, corporate, national, and hence, continental development. The underground cyber economy is a key factor that has enhanced the continued perpetration of cybercrime activities. Leaning on the space transition , innovation diffusion, and the gang theories, as well as resources gathered from past studies, the current study examines the underground cyber-economy and its implications for the development of Africa.

The Changing Global Context of Victimization

A cross-continental synergy is paramount when addressing victimization in genocide. The definition of victim of genocide is however challenging, complex, and open to controversies, especially when dealing with a large number of casualties. By proposing a reshaping of the purely legal framework which defines genocide victims, in support of a characterisation that includes all the multiple and sometimes conflicting voices of those who are direct or indirect witnesses of the “crime of all crimes,” this contribution argues for the need of a global legal framework that embeds both collective victimization in genocide as well as the uniquely different and diverse experiences of the victims.

Climate Change

In combination with ignorance, incompetence, and poor governance, climate change has become a serious threat to the greatness of Africa. Beyond that, climate change poses a problem to global security but has deeper impacts on the world's most vulnerable populations. This chapter reviews archival information to analyse the vulnerability of Africa vis-à-vis climate change, for which it is partly a cause. Also, it assesses the victimization and Africans' adaptation practices. The chapter argues that entrenched poverty, traditional practices, and lack of faith in research discoveries increase the exposure of Africans to climate change and intensify their inability to respond competently to its inherent victimization. To boost her adaptation, this chapter suggests that Africa should reinvent social alignment with its communities and build climate-friendly attitudes to prepare for environmental calamities that may arise from climate variation.

Cultural Context of Human Rights Violations Against Children in Asian Countries

Asian countries have a culture that is diametrically opposite to European Culture. In India, China, Thailand, etc., mothers are more attached to their children than husbands. There are certain religious practices that amount to human rights violations. Chinese children are deprived of enjoyment to the fullest. Trafficking, disparities, problems in Tibet, etc. are causing serious threats to the lives of children in China. This chapter analyses human violation against children in some of the Asian countries. It is not easy to cover all the countries, so some countries that have representative character are included for a detailed study. This chapter analyses various cultural contexts that aggregate child victimization and also suggests measures to stop it.

Hawai‘i's Multicultural Contexts and Victim Participants' Information Shuttled for Restorative Reentry Planning Circles

Hawai‘i is a multicultural island state that has been experimenting with a facilitated restorative reentry planning circle process for incarcerated individuals who meet with loved ones. The circle process considers loved ones' needs for repairing harm and the incarcerated person's needs for successful reentry including reconciliation with loved ones. When loved ones cannot attend a circle, they are invited to provide information over the telephone or by email to the facilitator who shares the information during the circle. This study analyzed participants' perceptions of how helpful it was for them to provide information about their needs having an incarcerated loved one. The authors predicted participants from high-context cultures would find the process less satisfying than those from low-context cultures, but the study found no differences. Despite identifying from a high- or low-context culture, all participants except one from a low-context culture found that providing shuttled information was helpful.

Colonialism and Victimization Narratives in the Context of Africa's Development

The chapter appraises the implications of victimization inherent in colonialism for the development of Africa. It analyses pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial (decolonization, neo-colonial, meta-colonial, globalization, and meta-decolonization) periods. It holds that post-independence development failure of Africa is rooted in its history of predatory colonialism. The vestiges of colonial norms, institutions, and society are the perpetual contraptions that made postcolonial development bottlenecks inevitable in Africa. It suggests that Africa must liberate itself from the violence of cognitive imperialism that impedes the emergence of truly African development values. It should discard the existing bourgeois decolonization and adopt the meta-decolonization option which this chapter proposes. This will truly Africanize a development agenda in Africa, by Africans and for Africa. Thus, Africa's abundant resources will promote a broad-base for her inclusion in the global development contest as a productive independent key player.

Victimization, Cultural Imperatives, and Empowerment of People of Color in the United States

The high incidence of violent crimes in the United States of America, which include mass shootings, hate crimes, Islam bashing, murders, extortion, crimes against women and children, and white supremacist crimes, witnessed in last few years is a cause for great concern. The land of liberty is lately seeing increasing victimization of deprived or socially unempowered groups. This chapter looks at such victimization and the cultural supremacy that is giving rise to ethnic strife among people. It is argued that robust and well-evolved policies will reduce crime and empower marginalized groups, a majority of whom are women and children. The empowerment—social, cultural, economic, and political—and recognition of the challenge of victimization is the only solution. There is a need to recognize the egalitarian impulses for a better policy formulation devoid of prejudice to craft a secure future for the victims.

Pregnancy Vlogs and Online Victimisation of Women

Often it is told that womanhood comes to full circle when a woman becomes a mother. Being a mother either biologically or by way of adoption is indeed a unique experience because it not only gives the joy of nurturing another life, but it also may make the woman more responsible in every sense. For every woman, the phases of motherhood bring special moments. For some, these phases may start right from the day of conceiving; for some they may start when she decides to adopt a baby; for some they may start right from the moment of the birth of the baby. In this digital era, many couples (especially women) like to capture the moments of motherhood by making digital photo albums or vlogs. In India, this phenomenon is rapidly catching up. Pregnancy photo shoots, baby birthing photos and videos, newborn photo shoots, etc. are trending. YouTube and Instagram are the chosen platforms to upload such videos or images. YouTube especially provides a wonderful opportunity to easy creation of amateur vlogs.

Gender-Specific Burden of the Economic Cost of Victimization

This chapter explores the impact of specific burden of the economic cost of victimization on gender. Gender-related victimization is disproportionately concentrated on women and girls. Forms include sexual assaults, intimate-partner violence, incest, genital mutilation, homicide, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and other sexual offences. Costs of violence against women are widespread throughout society. Every recognizable effect of violence has a cost whether it is direct or indirect. Direct costs come from the use of goods and services for which a monetary exchange is made. Direct costs exist for capital, labour, and material inputs. Indirect costs stem from effects of violence against women that have an imputed monetary exchange, such as lost income or reduced profit. Effects of violence against women also include intangible costs such as premature death and pain and suffering for which there is no imputed monetary value in the economy.

Gender and Victimization

Studies on victimization are on gender differences with limited emphasis on the vulnerability of the victims. The chapter therefore examines the gender differences and vulnerability of victims around the world. The theoretical orientation of this chapter was based on the feminist theory and lifestyle routine-activities theory. Data for this study were obtained from secondary data and reviewed literature. The study established gender variation in victimization in different regions with respect to types of crimes. Individuals and contextual factors responsible for the gender differentials in the level of victimization were identified. The chapter suggests a useful policy that directs learning toward a more encircling rationalization of violence that incorporates both general and crime-specific factors based on gender differences.