Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-327) and index.

While the world has made encouraging strides in the fight against global poverty, there is a hidden crisis silently undermining our best efforts to help the poor. It is a plague of everyday violence. Beneath the surface of the world's poorest communities, common violence -- like rape, forced labor, illegal detention, land theft, police abuse and other brutality -- has become routine and relentless. And like a horde of locusts devouring everything in their path, the unchecked plague of violence ruins lives, blocks the road out of poverty, and undercuts development.