The University of Louisville is presenting its 2016 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order to the co-authors of a book that explores the link between violent crime and global poverty.
Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros are being recognized for ideas put forth in their book "The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence."
Haugen recently spoke to WFPL News about their work.
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Haugen said: "While our attention commonly focuses on the way the poor are hungry or they live in shacks or they're suffering from disease, what the poor themselves reflected in these studies that are now emerging with great clarity is that one of their greatest fears is violence and the way that violence keeps them from ever being able to hold on to the benefits of their own struggle to get out of poverty, or to hold on to the benefits of other programs that seek to assist them."
Haugen leads the the human rights organization International Justice Mission, which works to diminish violence and build justice systems, according to a news release from U of L. In the 1990s, he led the United Nation's investigation of the genocide in Rwanda.
Boutros is a former federal prosecutor who has worked on human trafficking and hate crime cases. He's currently a visiting scholar at the law school of George Washington University.
The University of Louisville is also presenting Grawemeyer Awards this week in music composition, education, psychology and religion. The award includes a $100,000 cash prize, and the winners will be invited to Louisville to give free lectures on their work.
