The number of women in prison has doubled in the past five years despite the fact that few pose a risk to the public the vast majority are serving sentences for diddling social security, shoplifting and other types of non-violent crime.

ECONOMIST: Crime

Their accounting shows a 49 percent decline in the homicide rate, and a 75 percent decline of non-fatal violent crime victimization.

FORBES: Disarming Realities: As Gun Sales Soar, Gun Crimes Plummet

The vast majority of prisoners in any country are not violent criminals or dangerous psychopaths, but young men who have committed a non-violent property crime, or got into some relatively minor scrape with the law.

ECONOMIST: The craze for imprisonment

The Trauma Clinic, a non-profit body which treats survivors of violent crime, sees up to 120 patients a month, black and white, 20% more than a year ago.

ECONOMIST: South Africa