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Examining the Contribution of Off-Trade Alcohol Availability to Violence During COVID-19

Women and those in the lowest socio-economic groups are disproportionately affected by alcohol-related violence in the home – with instances of alcohol-related domestic violence victimisation having been found to be up to 14 times as common in the lowest socio-economic groups.

Off-trade alcohol availability (e.g., supermarkets and off-licences) is hypothesised to be a contributory factor to this violence, particularly in shaping extreme socio-economic disparities in victimisation. However, the effects of these sales have been difficult to isolate, as individuals’ off-trade purchasing patterns can be spread over wide geographical areas.

This research explored how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures such as lockdowns and social distancing have contributed to a rise in domestic violence. The project was awarded £9.9k from The British Academy (UK) as part of the Small Research Grants fund.

This project, with Dr Carly Lightowlers, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Liverpool, as Principal Investigator, and Lucy Bryant, Research and Policy Officer, Institute of Alcohol Studies, as Co-Investigator, ran from April 2022 – March 2023.

There is a well-established body of evidence demonstrating alcohol is a compounding factor increasing both the occurrence and the severity of domestic violence in intimate relationships. The pandemic and associated public health measures such as lockdowns and social distancing were found to have contributed to a rise in domestic violence.

However, alcohol is often overlooked in domestic violence policy. The COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on domestic violence, but not on the role of alcohol. While the World Health Organization recommended alcohol restriction to prevent domestic violence during the pandemic, a gap was found in subsequent research and policy focus in this area. This is despite the pandemic elevating the determinants that affect both domestic violence and heavy drinking, such as: stress, trauma, and financial uncertainty; public health policy decisions to close public drinking venues; the permissive nature of off-premises alcohol trade; and evidence of heavier drinking associated with online alcohol delivery during the pandemic.

Previously introduced criminal justice interventions, such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, generally focus on ‘problem’ individuals and premises, and pay little attention to violence in the home. While many of these criminal justice interventions were stigmatising and problematic, and researchers would not advocate for their extension to the domestic sphere, they illustrated the comparative lack of focus on alcohol-related domestic violence in recent years.

This research hopes to inform academic and policy debates surrounding violence reduction, gendered and socio-economic inequalities, as well as commercial and structural drivers of ill-health.

 

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This project (originally entitled ‘Home drinking, violence, and inequalities: a quasi-experiment examining the contribution of off-trade alcohol availability to violence during covid-19’) was funded by the British Academy in partnership with the Leverhulme Trust grant award SG2122\210301.

 

 

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