A/HRC/32/21 against Women, in its general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations similarly expressed concern that the proliferation of firearms has had a direct or indirect effect on women as victims of conflictrelated gender-based violence, as victims of domestic violence and also as protesters or actors in resistance movements. Need to regulate civilian access to firearms 27. Treaty bodies have emphasized prevention and interpreted the content of the general obligation to reduce harm and risks to individuals associated with the proliferation of firearms and their potential misuse. For instance, the Human Rights Committee has found that the obligation to effectively protect also requires efforts to curb violence that include the continued pursuit of legislation requiring background checks for all private firearm transfers (see CCPR/C/USA/CO/4, para. 10). 28. The Committee has also stated that the protection of the right to liberty and security of person as provided in article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights involved measures of control over civilian ownership of firearms (see CCPR/C/79/Add.50, para. 17).46 The Committee has taken this provision to mean that the protection of individuals from foreseeable threats to life or bodily integrity includes the duty of States to protect their populations against the risks posed by excessive availability of firearms. 47 The significant number of small arms and light weapons has also been identified as a risk to the safety of populations, particularly children (see CRC/C/OPAC/BIH/CO/1, para. 23). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, concerned at the high number of suicides in a particular State, examined the easy accessibility of firearms in its analysis of the scope of the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in that country. The Committee recommended that the State take measures to restrict access to firearms (see E/C.12/CHE/CO/2-3, para. 19). 29. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has read the regulation of civilian possession of firearms into due diligence obligations stemming from article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. To discharge its obligation of due diligence, a State was urged to enact legislation that strictly regulated the possession of small arms and to sanction violations (see CEDAW/C/PAK/CO/4, para. 14 (d)). The Committee held that robust and effective regulation of the arms trade, in addition to appropriate control over the circulation of existing and often illicit conventional arms, including small arms, to prevent their use to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence was needed (ibid., para. 29; see also CCPR/C/PHL/CO/4, para. 14). 30. Similarly, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has linked measures to prevent proliferation of firearms with the obligation to protect the right to life (see CCPR/C/PHL/CO/4, para. 14) as well as the right of children to safety and security (see CRC/C/OPAC/LKA/CO/1, paras. 44-45). The problem of firearms has also been raised in the context of the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence. While characterizing conditions where guns and other weapons were easily available as harmful environments for children, the Committee, in its general comment No. 13 (2011) on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, reaffirmed that States had the duty to incorporate the protection of children into legislative, administrative, social and educational measures and at all stages of intervention, from prevention to recovery and reintegration. 46 47 See also general comment No. 35 (2014) on article 19 (liberty and security of person), para. 9. Ibid. 9