collaborating in criminal activity, submitting to sexual abuse and forced relationships and joining the ranks of criminal organisations themselves. Resistance can trigger threats and violence. Victims of violence and displacement also face stigmatisation and discrimination based on their perceived association with criminal organisations. In the polarising and bellicose narrative of the “war on gangs,” public officials regularly associate them with “the enemy” rather than recognising them as citizens with a right to protection. Humanitarian organisations and donors increasingly recognise the need to develop new approaches and more robust interventions in the region. They acknowledge that addressing criminal violence challenges many of their precepts and traditional working practices and will require considerable time.54 A family enters the gates of the City of Childhood and Youth community centre in Santa Ana. Photo © UNHCR/Tito Herrera, September 2016 The implementation of extraordinary security measures has also contributed to the erosion of the human rights environment in communities most vulnerable to criminal violence. In pursuit of the legitimate goal of suppressing criminal groups, state security forces have allegedly perpetrated extrajudicial executions, physical abuse, sexual harassment and mass arrests.52 Of the cases of displacement documented by civil society, the police and armed forces were directly responsible for eight per cent.53 ON THE GRID: Global internal displacement in 2016 23