violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

7in the mid-1980s, as well as the socioeconomiccrisis that followed the demise of the SovietUnion saw a remarkable increase in homicidesamong Russians under the age of 20 in theearly 1990s. 255,256There is also evidence that programmes whichalter peer drinking habits and other socialnorms can reduce harmful alcohol consumptionlevels among young people, and thus maybe useful in reducing alcohol-related violence.Modifying drinking establishments such asbars and clubs can be effective. For example,improving management and staff practicethrough training programmes, implementingcodes of good practice, and strictly enforcinglicensing legislation creates environments lessconducive to violence. 257,258,259 In wider nighttimeenvironments, the presence of large numbersof intoxicated individuals at the end of thenight increases the potential for violent confrontations.260 Interventions such as provisionof safe late-night transport, improvements tostreet lighting and use of closed circuit televisionhave been shown to help reduce alcoholrelatedviolence around licensed premises. 261A large proportion of the alcohol consumedin many low- to middle-income societies isproduced at home or sold in unlicensed establishments.262 For example, it is estimated that80–90% of South Africa’s liquor outlets areunlicensed. In such settings, increasing theprice of alcohol may be less effective thanother approaches such as legislation on thelegal minimum age for purchase of alcohol,and efforts to regulate liquor outlets.Reducing access to,and demand for weaponsAs described earlier, access to guns and otherlethal weapons are a major factor in homicidesand serious injuries to children in many communities.Interventions to reduce access tosuch weapons include bans on certain types offirearms, waiting periods, gun buybacks, ruleson licensing and registration, stricter policingof illegal possession and trafficking of guns andrules for storing them safely. In many places,there is a growing recognition of the need toalso address the carrying and use of knives.To date, relatively few interventions to reduceaccess to lethal weapons have included evaluationcomponents rigorous enough to allowconclusions to be drawn about their impacton homicide rates, 263 or to specifically identifyimpacts on children. However, examples fromAustralia and Colombia that have been properlyevaluated suggest that reducing accessto and demand for lethal weapons can be aneffective means of preventing violence by andamong children in community setting. 264,265The box that follows describes how a combinationof interventions to prevent the carryingof firearms in public and to reduce alcoholconsumption has helped lower homicide ratesin Cali, Colombia.331Violence against children in the community