Calls for more heavy-handed policing show that we’d rather demonise young victims of violence than help them

Although young black boys are disproportionately the victims of this violence, crime remains the only lens through which society is willing to view them

In October 2010, my friend Marvin Henry was shot to death a month before his 18th birthday. I was 15 years old. Eight years later, I can still remember the pain that tore through me at the exact moment I found out. I remember every second of that day, vividly. I can still feel that pain in the very core of my being. It is gut wrenching and heartbreaking, and it stays with you. Although the grief I am describing is hard to articulate, I know it is far too familiar for many. This week there have been five fatal stabbings in London, with four of the victims under the age of 25.

Unfortunately, our society has failed to grasp the true scale of the problem. The murders are only the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of young people who have been violently attacked, stabbed and shot, and have survived. And there are countless more who have witnessed this extreme violence, including many children who have endured the horror of watching their friends being murdered, with the added agony of then having to attend funerals, vigils and court cases.

But that’s not all. We also have to deal with losing our loved ones to the criminal justice system and trying to support them to cope with the harsh reality inside the failing prisons in this country; prisons where the suicide rates and levels of violence are increasing. While some believe it’s simpler to draw a line between the “victims” and “perpetrators”, the more complex and painful reality is that many of the young people who are in prison for violent crimes, have themselves been victims of violent crimes. Without receiving adequate support to cope with the impact of this violence, these young people would rather become aggressors than ever have to experience victimisation again.

For thousands of young people, this is our reality. It is not only overwhelmingly distressing, it is exhausting. And the cycles of pain and violence and layers of trauma in our communities have created a culture of desensitisation. Children who have been victims of violence are being failed by the state and the lack of a coordinated response to support victims is as shameful as it is negligent.

Although young black boys are disproportionately the victims of this violence, crime remains the only lens through which society is willing to view them. Why aren’t these young black boys seen as children? What will it take for them to be seen as victims? And why do young black boys only experience a police force, instead of a police service that is supposed to protect and serve them?

I am not surprised by the calls for increased stop and search or harsher sentences, because this response is now predictable. My response remains the same: neither will reduce violence. I am tired of our over reliance on the failing criminal justice system. I am tired of children being treated as risks that need to be managed, with little thought given to their needs. I am tired of our unwillingness to prioritise healing over punishment. We ought to remember that, as Angela Davis once said, “prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings”.

Surely after two decades of a serious youth violence crisis in which hundreds of children have been killed, there should be a structured system that can spring into action when a young person is murdered. In the immediate aftermath, this response should include emergency support to help victims’ family, friends and community to process their loss.

Furthermore, access to counselling, mental health provisions and community based emotional support services should be the standard response for any young person who has been the victim of serious violence, or has witnessed such violence. Without adequate support in place for victims, it is hard to envision a system that can provide the necessary support to whole communities that are traumatised. Yet, this is the depth of intervention that is required to radically change the reality of violence in this country.

Although there have been increased calls to implement a public health approach from officials, including London mayor Sadiq Khan, the strategies that are claimed to be doing so lack real substance and clear vision. The recently announced plan to establish a London Violence Reduction Unit includes little detail on how health will be prioritised, and the mayor’s pre-existing knife crime strategy, which has seen “an increase of almost 20 per cent” in weapons-focused stop and searches, fails to reflect this too.

As does the government’s Serious Violence Strategy, which makes little reference to the impacts of violence on health, and admits that “changes in the level of stop and search have only minimal effects – at best – on trends in violent crime, even when measured at the local level”, and yet goes on to recommend that it should still be “part of a targeted strategy to turn these trends around”.

Even Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick claims the Met can lead a public health approach, which is not only laughable, but is disingenuous and outrageous coming from a representative of an institution that has zero accountability for officers, routinely uses excessive force against our mentally ill, and refuses to meaningfully address the institutional racism woven into the fabric of the organisation.

There are no quick fix solutions, only long term commitments. We must invest in building communities, enabling young people affected by violence to access holistic support services. We must build the capacity of the frontline community-based organisations supporting the many children for whom the risk of serious violence is very real and imminent.

This includes equipping grassroots groups with the tools to deliver emergency mental-health first aid, so we can truly empower the young people who experience trauma, anxiety, paranoia and depression after violence. We must also ensure that our young people have access to emergency first aid training, to enable them to save lives when they are in a position to do so. We must build communities where our children feel safe, nurtured and supported.

Violence is not inevitable; we must take action.

Temi Mwale is director of the 4Front Project, a youth-led social enterprise on a mission to empower young people and communities to live free from violence