The locust effect

Beneath the headlines, the world's poorest communities endure a steady undercurrent of ordinary brutality. Rape, forced labor, unlawful imprisonment, seized land, and abuse by police are so common that they have become an accepted part of daily life. In much of the developing world, the systems meant to deliver justice no longer function at all. Gary A. Haugen, who leads the human rights organization International Justice Mission, and Victor Boutros, a former federal prosecutor, trace how these conditions took hold and examine what would be required to bring them to an end.