Article 53 of the Law on the Protection of the Child (2010) states that corporal punishment may not be used to discipline or correct a child (“Il est interdit de recourir aux châtiments corporels pour discipliner ou corriger l’enfant.”) This explicitly prohibits all corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home. Article 107 states that persons who inflict cruel inhuman or degrading punishment on children are liable to the penalties in the penal code. Article 130 states that international conventions ratified by the Republic of Congo on the rights of the child are an integral part of this law; article 131 repeals all previous laws in conflict with the new law.

This brings the number of African states fully prohibiting corporal punishment of children to five and the total number worldwide to 32.

For further information see www.endcorporalpunishment.org

To Bulgaria and Germany, both of which have enacted legislation which prohibits corporal punishment of children in all settings including the home, the Committee recommended measures to ensure implementation of the prohibition, including sustained awareness raising and the promotion of positive, non-violent discipline.

To Djibouti, Madagascar, Morocco, Paraguay and Sri Lanka – all of which allow corporal punishment in the home and in settings outside the home – the Committee recommended law reform to prohibit all corporal punishment of children.

Download the Committee’s recommendations on corporal punishment here.

For detailed information on the legality of corporal punishment, relevant research and recommendations from all treaty bodies, see the individual country reports for Bulgaria, Djibouti, Germany, Madagascar, Morocco, Paraguay and Sri Lanka on www.endcorporalpunishment.org

As the Global Initiative reminds us the UNSG’s Study report, which I presented to the General Assembly in 2006, set a target of 2009 for prohibition of all legalised violence against children. Yes this was wildly over-optimistic – but how could we justifiably be “realistic” about the time it takes to convince governments to prohibit such obvious human rights violations against their youngest citizens? How could we be true to children and yet condemn another whole generation to suffer childhoods scarred by deliberate and legalised adult violence?

Each year, these reports document frustrating delays in every region. New analyses in this 2011 report show how shamelessly some states continue to ignore repeated calls by the international human rights bodies for them to fulfil their legal obligations and stop the authorisation and justification of violence disguised as discipline. On the other hand, the number of states banning all forms of corporal punishment inexorably rises. And there is particular encouragement in the coverage of this issue in the Universal Periodic Review process at the Human Rights Council, where states are increasingly active in challenging corporal punishment: over 90 relevant recommendations were made during examinations in the first cycle, accepted by 47 of the targeted states. If there is effective and immediate follow-up, this should surely accelerate progress. (Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro in the Global report, page 3)

Download the 2011 Global Report here (PDF)

For hard copies and further information, contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 18 (October 2011)

The Committee examined the state party reports of Iceland, Italy, Panama, Republic of Korea, Seychelles and Syrian Arab Republic. No recommendations on corporal punishment were made to Iceland, where this form of violence was prohibited in all settings in 2003. A Supreme Court ruling in Italy as long ago as 1996 rendered all corporal punishment unlawful, including in the home, but the ruling has not been confirmed in legislation: the Committee recommended that Italy reform its domestic laws to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings. The Committee made similar recommendations to the other states that were examined. To Panama, Seychelles and Syria, the Committee specifically recommended that all legal defences for the use of corporal punishment be explicitly repealed.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are available in the individual state reports for Italy, Panama, Republic of Korea, Seychelles and Syrian Arab Republic.

Read the committee's recommendations...

Explicit prohibition is included in articles 357 and 376 of the Children’s Code (2007) but despite our best efforts, we had been unable to obtain official confirmation from the Government that these provisions were interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment, without exception. However, the 2011 state party reports submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights clearly state that the prohibition is comprehensive.

This brings the number of African states fully prohibiting corporal punishment of children to four and the total number worldwide to 31.

For further information see www.endcorporalpunishment.org

This graphic new briefing by the Global Initiative summarises both the progress and the delay in achieving prohibition and calls for tougher action, including legal advocacy, to be taken when governments resist reform.

Download: Prohibiting all corporal punishment of children: progress and delay (October 2011)

A limited number of hard copies is available: email info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

For full details of the legality and practice of corporal punishment, including extracts from the Human Rights Committee’s recommendations, see the individual country reports for Kazakhstan and Bulgaria at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

Download Issue 5 (May 2011) – English, French

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 17 (July 2011)

“Every child has the right … (f) to be free from corporal punishment and cruel and inhuman treatment by any person including parents, school administrations and other institutions….”

For further information see “States prohibiting” and the detailed country report on South Sudan.

Prohibiting all corporal punishment in schools: Global Report 2011 is available as a pdf.

A limited number of hard copies is available from info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

The Committee examined the state party reports of Bahrain, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt and Finland. Corporal punishment of children is unlawful in all settings, including the home, in Costa Rica and Finland: to these states the Committee recommended measures to support full implementation of the law, including appropriate awareness raising and public education. In the other states corporal punishment is lawful in the home and other settings: the Committee recommended law reform to ensure that children are legally protecting from this form of violence, together with measures to ensure full implementation of the prohibition.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are included in the individual state reports for Bahrain, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt and Finland.

Read the committee's recommendations...

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has from the very beginning of its work been clear that states have an obligation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit and eliminate all corporal punishment of children. In recent years, the monitoring bodies of other international human rights treaties have increasingly confirmed prohibition as an obligation on states parties to their respective conventions. Other recent recommendations to states to prohibit all corporal punishment of children, including in the home, have been made by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (to Yemen and Turkey following examination of their reports at the 46th session in May) and by the Human Rights Committee (to Slovakia and Mongolia following examination of their reports at the 101st session in March/April).

For further information on the states mentioned above, including the relevant extracts from the treaty body recommendations, see the individual country reports.

Those in favour of corporal punishment often give reasons for their views based on their faith or interpretations of religious texts. But there is growing support among religious leaders of all faiths and all over the world for law reform to prohibit corporal punishment and faith-based promotion of positive, non-violent parenting.

Packed with positive examples and links to resources, this new handbook published jointly by the Churches’ Network for Non-violence, the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children and Save the Children Sweden, aims to help those working with and within religious communities to harness faith-based support for reform in their efforts to end corporal punishment of children. It includes the following sections:

Section 1, Introduction, describes the links between religion and corporal punishment of children.

Section 2, Corporal punishment of children – a global problem, discusses the prevalence of corporal punishment and its impact on children’s lives, children’s perspectives, the importance of legal reform and progress towards reform worldwide. It includes examples of the involvement of religious leaders.

Section 3, Children’s right to protection from corporal punishment, looks at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and how the guiding principles of the Convention are relevant to religious practice. A brief overview of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children is given.

Section 4, Religious perspectives, discusses the challenges posed by faith-based opposition to corporal punishment and ways of responding to them. It looks at faith-based support for prohibiting corporal punishment and gives a brief account of some of the teachings about children and non-violence from the major world religions, including the Golden Rule.

Section 5, Working with faith groups to achieve reform, and Section 6, Taking action through religious leaders’ existing roles and functions, address ways of engaging with religious leaders and organisations and developing multi-religious support and partnership at every level. They discuss ways in which the diverse roles and functions of religious leaders provide unique opportunities for action towards prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment. Examples of faith-based initiatives are included, together with further suggestions for taking action.

Section 7, Resources, provides information on further resources relevant to each main section in the handbook, including links to downloadable resources and useful websites.

Ending corporal punishment of children: A handbook for working with and within religious communities (2011), with a Foreword by Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children, can be downloaded as a pdf.

A limited number of hard copies is available from info@churchesfornon-violence.org

During 2010, Kenya and Tunisia became the first African states to achieve complete prohibition of corporal punishment, in all settings of children’s lives including the family.

All African states except Somalia have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has consistently interpreted the Convention as requiring prohibition of all corporal punishment, linked to educational and other measures to eliminate it. Its 2006 General Comment No. 8 consolidates its interpretation and provides detailed guidance to states. Most African states have ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This requires states to ensure that discipline by parents and at school respects the child’s human dignity (articles 11 and 20), and that children are protected from all forms of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment by parents and others caring for the child (article 16).

The African Child Policy Forum and the Global Initiative, in collaboration with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, held a Strategic Consultation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 28 February–1 March, 2011. The objectives were to:

• review the status of corporal punishment across Africa and progress towards its prohibition and elimination;
• identify immediate and forthcoming opportunities for progress and how to make effective use of them;
• discuss the role of key partners and how to achieve accelerating progress effectively through collaboration;
• identify challenges and how to overcome them;
• agree practical ways forward.

The outcome of the Consultation is a detailed Strategic Plan.

Download the strategic plan in English and French.

See also the All-Africa report 2010.

Download Issue 4 (May 2011) – English, French

Download the guide here.

See also the Global Initiative's website for children.

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 16 (April 2011)

The Committee examined the state party reports of Afghanistan, Belarus, Denmark, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore and Ukraine, and made recommendations concerning corporal punishment in all cases. To New Zealand and Ukraine, which have already achieved prohibition in all settings, the Committee recommended continued awareness raising and the promotion of positive, non-violent childrearing to ensure implementation of the law. To Denmark, the Committee recommended that the prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings be extended throughout its territory, including the Faroe Islands. To the remaining states, the Committee recommended law reform to ensure that corporal punishment is prohibited in all settings, including the home, together with measures to ensure full implementation.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are available here and are included in the individual state reports for Afghanistan, Belarus, Denmark, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore and Ukraine.

Read the committee's recommendations...

“Most violence that is inflicted upon children is committed in the home – and thus tends to be hidden. This report seeks to bring the extent of violent disciplinary practices out of the shadows to promote alternative, non-violent, forms of discipline and participatory forms of child-rearing.” (Theresa Kilbane, UNICEF, Senior Advisor Child Protection)

The surveys asked mothers (or primary caregivers) of children aged 2-14 to answer questions on a range of violent disciplinary practices, including shouting, name calling, shaking and hitting. Key research findings include the following:

• The use of non-violent discipline is widespread (experienced by 93% of children on average).
• Violent discipline is very common (on average 75% of children experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression, with 17% on average experiencing severe physical punishment).
• Most caregivers (less than one in four) do not consider physical punishment is necessary in childrearing: many nevertheless use it but the belief is linked with a greater likelihood of children experiencing only non-violent discipline.
• In most countries there are no significant links between violent discipline and socio-demographic characteristics such as wealth, living arrangements, education and household size or between violent discipline and personal characteristics of the child such as gender and age, although the prevalence of violent discipline was greatest for children aged 5-9.

The report concludes that it is not enough to focus only on trying to change attitudes towards corporal punishment:

“The analysis suggests that promoting broad changes in attitudes and norms regarding the need for physical punishment in child rearing can help reduce levels of violent discipline. However, given that a considerable majority of mothers and primary caregivers in most countries already reject physical punishment in theory, if not in practice, a comprehensive strategy is needed to prevent and address violence against children.”

A key component of this strategy is law reform to prohibit all forms of violence, including all physical punishment, in all settings including the home:

“Violence against children remains legal throughout much of the world, although some countries have moved to ban or limit violence in the home, at school, in care institutions or in the penal system. In order to legally ban all forms of violence against children, including violent discipline, countries must explicitly prohibit the practice and also eliminate any provisions that may allow its continued use.”
For further information, including detailed analyses of each country, see the full report, available at www.childinfo.org/discipline.html. Since 2008, statistics relating to child discipline for each country also feature in the child protection tables (Table 9) in UNICEF’s annual State of the World’s Children reports, available at www.unicef.org/sowc.

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 15 (January 2011)

A comprehensive new guide published jointly by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children and Save the Children Sweden aims to support child rights advocates in challenging the legality and practice of corporal punishment of children in all settings – in the home, in schools, and in justice and care settings.

The Campaigns Manual: Ending corporal punishment and other cruel and degrading punishment of children through law reform and social change is organised into six main sections:

Section 1, “Understanding the problem of corporal punishment”, defines corporal punishment and outlines the reasons why it should be prohibited and eliminated, focusing on the human rights imperative. It covers existing research on prevalence and on the negative effects of corporal punishment and why its prohibition is the only safe foundation for child protection, and provides counter arguments to claims commonly made by those in favour of corporal punishment.

Section 2, “Analysing the situation and campaigning for reform”, explains how to carry out a rights-based analysis of the situation, including a review of the laws relating to corporal punishment, finding out about its prevalence, identifying obstacles to reform, and using this information to set priorities for action. It addresses how to include children in this work.

Section 3, “Ending the legality of corporal punishment”, focuses on promoting law reform to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including the home. It describes how to draft prohibiting legislation, how to develop a strategy to promote law reform, how to work with government and parliament, and how legal action can be taken to push for reform. It also covers how prohibition works in practice and the importance of understanding this in promoting law reform.

Section 4, “Ending the practice of corporal punishment”, addresses how to change people’s attitudes towards, and use of, corporal punishment, providing detailed guidance on developing strategies to achieve this in the home and in schools.

Section 5, “Assessing the effectiveness of the campaign”, explains why it is important to evaluate the campaign and how to do this.

Section 6, “Resources”, lists available resources which will be useful to support campaigning for law reform and for behavioural and attitudinal change, many of which are freely available on the internet.

The Campaigns Manual can be downloaded here

For hard copies email Mali Nilsson, Save the Children Sweden, at Mali.Nilsson@rb.se.

Hitting and hurting a child is an act of violence – and it is no less violent simply for being lawful. Children, like all people, have a right to live their lives free from violence, and the international human rights consensus on this could hardly be stronger. When the Global Initiative published its first global report in 2006 – the year the final report of the UN Study on Violence against Children highlighted the shockingly widespread legal and social acceptance of corporal punishment and recommended abolition as a matter of urgency – 16 states had achieved prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in all settings. Today, almost twice as many have done so, with 29 states now fully prohibiting corporal punishment, including in the home. The rate of progress reflects the seriousness with which human rights treaty bodies, NGOs and governments now take the issue and an understanding that children are not possessions but human beings and holders of human rights, including the right to respect for their human dignity and to equal protection from assault under the law.
But at the end of 2010, there are still 168 states where the law allows parents to hit children in the name of discipline, and more than 40 where children can be whipped or caned as a sentence of the courts.

We hope this report will help us to celebrate the progress that has been made and, more importantly, strengthen our resolve to continue advocating prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment of children until it is achieved in every state. (Global report 2010, p. 3)

For hard copies and further information, contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

The newsletter is sent to supporters of the Global Initiative in Africa and others who we think will be interested. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact vohito@africanchildforum.org.

Download Issue 3 (December 2010) – English, French

The report can be downloaded here. A limited number of hard copies is also available (email Sonia Vohito at vohito@africanchildforum.org).

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 14 (November 2010)

The Committee examined the state party reports of Angola, Burundi, Guatemala, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Spain, Sri Lanka and Sudan. The Committee recommended prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings, including the home, drawing attention to its General Comment No. 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel and degrading forms of punishment. To Spain, which achieved full prohibition in 2007, the Committee recommended continued awareness raising and public education programmes to ensure full implementation of the law.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are available here and are included in the individual state reports for Angola, Burundi, Guatemala, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Spain, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

Read the committee's recommendations...

Civil society organisations in the country have united in efforts to ensure that the provisions which together prohibit all corporal punishment – articles 2, 20, 29 and 53 – are publicised, understood and implemented.

A press statement issued on behalf of child rights civil society organisations in Kenya highlights the new Constitutional provisions on corporal punishment and calls on the Government to ensure these are enforced through further legal reform to harmonise existing legislation with the new Constitution.

The full statement is available here (PDF).

More information at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

The newsletter – available in English and French – is being sent to supporters of the Global Initiative in Africa and others who we think will be interested. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact vohito@africanchildforum.org.

Download Issue 2 (September 2010) – English, French

Article 29 of the Constitution states that every person “has the right to freedom ad security of the person, which includes the right not to be ... (c) subjected to any form of violence from either public or private sources; (d) subjected to torture in any manner, whether physical or psychological; (e) subjected to corporal punishment; or (f) treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading manner”. Article 20(1) states: “The Bill of Rights applies to all law and binds all State organs and all persons.” And article 53 confirms that every child has the right “to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour”.

The effect of the prohibition in the new Constitution is immediate: article 2(4) renders void any law, including customary law, that is inconsistent with the Constitution. There are various provisions in Kenyan law which justify or authorise corporal punishment, in conflict with the new Constitution. These will need to be  reviewed and amended, including repeal of “the right of any parent or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer reasonable punishment on him” from article 127 of the Children Act 2001 and of the authorisation of corporal punishment in schools in article 11 of the Education (School Discipline) Regulations.

Kenya is the 29th state worldwide to prohibit all corporal punishment of children, following closely the achievement of prohibition in Tunisia and Poland.

More information at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 13 (August 2010)

During the workshop, the key elements of law reform were described and guidance given on how to develop national strategies to achieve prohibition in all settings. There was in depth discussion about the challenges faced and how to overcome them, and exploration of how action can be taken at a regional as well as a national level. This work culminated in presentations by participants of national strategies for law reform drafted during the workshop, to be further developed and implemented on returning to their respective countries. Civil society representatives had the opportunity to discuss the significant role they can play in promoting law reform and ways of overcoming the particular challenges they face. A report of the work is available here.

In July 2010, Tunisia became the first African state to prohibit all corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home. Law No. 2010-40 of 26 July 2010, amends article 319 of the Penal Code to remove the clause which provided a legal defence for the use of corporal punishment in childrearing. Prior to the reform, article 319 of the Penal Code punished assault and violence which did not lead to serious or lasting consequences for the victim, but stated that "correction of a child by persons in authority over him is not punishable".

The new law explicitly repeals this clause, making it a criminal offence to assault a child even lightly. Publication of the law in the Official Gazette, in July 2010, was accompanied by a statement from the Constitutional Council that the new law is wholly compatible with the Constitution and its effect is to make the provisions against light assault in article 319 of the Penal Code equally applicable to “correction” of children.

On 1 August 2010, a new law came into force in Poland prohibiting all corporal punishment in childrearing. Article 2 of the Law of 6 May 2010 “On the Prevention of Family Violence” amends the Family Code (1964) by inserting a new article 96 which prohibits all corporal punishment in childrearing: "Persons exercising parental care, care or alternative care over a minor are forbidden to use corporal punishment, inflict psychological suffering and use any other forms of child humiliation" (Unofficial translation). This makes Poland the 22nd European state to achieve prohibition.

More information at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

The Committee examined the state party reports of Argentina, Belgium, Grenada, Japan, Macedonia, Nigeria and Tunisia, and made recommendations in all cases to prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings. The Committee expressed concern about legal defences for corporal punishment by parents in Argentina and Tunisia and about judicial corporal punishment in Grenada and under Sharia law in Nigeria. In most states – Belgium, Grenada, Japan, Nigeria and Tunisia – the Committee drew attention to the inadequate attention given to its previous recommendations concerning corporal punishment and again urged states to take the recommended action.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are available here and are included in the individual state reports for Argentina, Belgium, Grenada, Japan, Macedonia, Nigeria and Tunisia.

Read the committee's recommendations...

The newsletter – available in English and French – is being sent to supporters of the Global Initiative in Africa and others who we think will be interested. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact vohito@africanchildforum.org.

Download Issue 1 (May 2010) – English, French

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 12 (May 2010)

Article 3(1) of the Children and Youth Act 2008 (in force 2009) states (unofficial translation): “Children and young people have the rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to ... (b) education/upbringing without violence: corporal punishment, psychological harm and other degrading treatment are not accepted....”

The number of countries worldwide which have achieved full prohibition is now 26, including 21 Council of Europe member states.

For further information, see "Countdown to prohibition", "States prohibiting", and the detailed country report on Liechtenstein.

More information at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 11 (March 2010)

The Committee examined the state party reports of El Salvador, Ecuador, Cameroon, Tajikistan, Paraguay, Mongolia, Burkina Faso and Norway. With the exception of Norway, which achieved full prohibition in 1987, the Committee made strong recommendations to all states to prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings, including within the family home. The Committee repeatedly reminded states that the UN Study on Violence against Children had recommended prohibition of all forms of violence, including corporal punishment. To Mongolia, where proposals have been made to include prohibition in the current revision of the Family Law, the Committee recommended that the Government pass the proposed amendments.

Read the committee's recommendations...

Download the 2009 Global Report here (PDF)

For hard copies and further information, contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

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Download Issue 10 (December 2009)

Penal law in Luxembourg does not include a legal defence for the use of corporal punishment in childrearing, which means that provisions against assault in the Penal Code apply to children as to adults. During debate on the bill, it was argued that corporal punishment was already prohibited under the Penal Code. However, referring to the Council of Europe’s recommendation on prohibition of corporal punishment, MPs in parliament decided that it was necessary to confirm in the new law that corporal punishment of children within families is unlawful.
This brings the total number of countries worldwide which have achieved full prohibition to 25, including 20 Council of Europe member states.

For further information, see "Countdown to prohibition", "States prohibiting", and the detailed country report on Luxembourg on the Global Initiative website.

Council of Europe recommendation 1666 (2004), Europe-wide ban on corporal punishment of children is available here. Information on the campaign to achieve prohibition in all 47 member states can be found here.

More information at www.endcorporalpunishment.org

After examining implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines and Qatar, the Committee made strong recommendations to states parties for comprehensive law reform to prohibit all corporal punishment of children.

To Bolivia, Mozambique and the Philippines, the Committee drew attention to the insufficient progress since its previous recommendations concerning corporal punishment. Law reform is currently under way in the Philippines and the Committee urged the speedy adoption of the Anti-Corporal Punishment Bill, which would achieve prohibition in all settings. The Committee expressed concern that in Mozambique and Bolivia, recently enacted laws do not prohibit all corporal punishment of children and urged the governments of these states to enact explicit prohibition in all settings. The Committee paid particular attention to the dual legal system of positive law and indigenous customary law in Bolivia, stressing that corporal punishment should be prohibited under both systems.

Noting the commitment of Pakistan to prohibition, the Committee recommended repeal of the legal defence for the use of corporal punishment (section 89 of the Penal Code) and enactment of prohibition as a matter of urgency. With regard to Qatar, the Committee noted that measures are being taken to address the problem of corporal punishment and urged the state party to take into account the Committee’s General Comment No. 8 while drafting new legislation.

Read the committee's recommendations...

The newsletter is sent automatically to supporters of the Global Initiative and others who have expressed an interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Download Issue 9 (September 2009)

The booklet can be downloaded here in English, French and Spanish.

It is also available in a child-friendly version: English, French, Spanish.

Hard copies are also available – email info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

Its new 44-page thematic report – Report on Corporal Punishment and Human Rights of Children and Adolescents – was prepared by the office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child, Professor Paulo Pinheiro. It includes an analysis of state responsibility in the use of corporal punishment by private citizens and of corporal punishment in relation to those with parental authority. It makes detailed recommendations to member states concerning the actions they should take to achieve full prohibition of corporal punishment.

To date, three OAS member states have achieved law reform to prohibit all corporal punishment – Costa Rica (2008), Uruguay (2007) and Venezuela (2007) – and draft legislation is under discussion in some others.

The report is available in English and Spanish.

The handbook provides examples of laws which give children the same protection from assault that adults enjoy, including the removal of legal defences relating to “reasonable chastisement/correction” by parents and the repeal of laws authorising corporal punishment in schools and as a sentence of the courts. It also gives guidance on non-legislative measures to support full prohibition.
The handbooks are available as pdfs here:

Interdire les châtiments corporels à l’encontre des enfants: Guide des réformes juridiques et autres mesures

Prohibir el castigo corporal de los niños: Guía sobre la reforma legal y otras medidas

Prohibiting corporal punishment of children: A guide to legal reform and other measures

Download these briefings from www.endcorporalpunishment.org now...

The Committee examined implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Bangladesh, France, Mauritania and Niger, and recommended explicit prohibition of corporal punishment by law in all settings, including the home.

Romania and Sweden, which have already achieved law reform to prohibit all corporal punishment, were also examined by the Committee. To Romania, the Committee recommended intensified aware-raising and public education campaigns in light of the high prevalence of corporal punishment revealed in research prior to law reform. The Committee recommended that Sweden continue the promotion of positive, non-violent forms of discipline to ensure that children are protected from all abuse within the family.

Read the committee's recommendations...

Read the full article

Download the report

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Download Issue 8 (June 2009)

When the issue of prohibiting corporal punishment is raised, questions typically arise concerning what prohibition will mean for parents and family life. This new booklet provides answers to the most common questions and dispels misconceptions about the reasons for prohibition and what its impact on families on would be.

A child-friendly version is also available, and the FAQs section of the Global Initiative website has been revised and updated.

Read full article

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Download Issue 7 (March 2009)

In December 2008 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights formally asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to issue an advisory opinion on whether corporal punishment of children is compatible with various articles in the American Convention on Human Rights and the American Declaration of Human Rights and Duties.

Referring to articles 1 (non-discrimination), 2 (obligation to adapt domestic law to the American Convention), 5 (right to humane treatment) and 19 (rights of the child) of the American Convention and article VII (right to protection for mothers and children) of the American Declaration, the Commission asked the Court whether these provisions, in light of the best interests of the child, oblige OAS Member States (1) to “regulate paternal authority and protection in such a way as to protect children against all forms of corporal punishment”; and (2) to “adopt legislative and other measures for the purpose of ensuring that children are not subjected to corporal punishment as a method of discipline within the family, at school or in institutions”.

Read full article.

Go to website.

The new article 53 of the Code covers “the right of the child to be protected” and states in paragraph 4 that the child “has the right to be protected against abuses, including corporal punishment by his parents or persons who replace them”. Article 62 concerns parents’ rights and states in paragraph 2 that “methods to educate children, chosen by parents, will exclude abusive behaviour, insults and ill-treatments of all types, discrimination, psychological and physical violence, corporal punishments [etc]”.

Read more about this development...

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Building on the advice given by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its General Comment No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel of degrading forms of punishment, the handbook provides examples of legislation which would ensure that children are given the same protection from assault that adults enjoy, from the removal of legal defences relating to “reasonable chastisement/correction” by parents to the repeal of laws authorising corporal punishment in schools and as a sentence of the courts. It also gives guidance on non-legislative measures necessary to support full prohibition.

The revised handbook takes into account comments on the original version published last year, as well as recent experience gained through working with NGOs and others pursuing law reform in 2008.

Go to online resources to support the handbook.

Read the committee's recommendations...

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Download Issue 6 (January 2009)

The Committee notes that corporal punishment of children is not explicitly prohibited in all settings and that it is a common and accepted means of childrearing. (art. 16)

The State party, taking into account the recommendation in the United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children, should adopt and implement legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, including the family, supported by the necessary awareness-raising and public education measures.

The Committee made similar recommendations to Serbia (CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on initial report, para. 20). The recommendation to prohibit all corporal punishment in the home in Belgium was made in the context of addressing domestic violence and violence against women and girls in the home (CAT/C/BEL/CO/2 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on second report, para. 24).
The Committee welcomed the prohibition of corporal punishment of children in schools and in the judicial process in China (CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on fourth report, para. 5).

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Article 5(b) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women provides for "the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases" (our emphasis). The Committee’s General Recommendation No. 19 (1992) on Violence against women states that full implementation of the Convention requires States to eliminate all forms of violence against women (paragraph 4).

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Download Issue 5 (November 2008)

"laws allowing the definition of ‘justifiable assaults’ and ‘reasonable punishments’ on children are not compliant with international human rights standards. That children, uniquely, should have less protection under the criminal law from assault is additionally discriminatory and unimaginable, given children’s obvious special vulnerability."

The Commissioner also criticises the UK’s recent review of the law in England and Wales in which, he says, the Government “appears to have overlooked or dismissed the overwhelming response to the broad consultation which was in favour of banning physical punishment of children and for children to enjoy the same rights to protection as adults”. He notes that as long as corporal punishment remains lawful, the Government’s statement that it does not condone smacking “lacks credibility”.

Drawing attention to the recommendations to the UK to prohibit all corporal punishment by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child – the latter for the third time – the Commissioner recommends to the UK:

"that the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence should be removed completely by amendment to section 58 of the Children Act 2004 for England and Wales and to article 2 of The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. He also recommends that section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 should be reformed similarly to remove the concept of ‘justifiable assault’ of children and ensure that the criminal law applies equally to assaults on children."

Download: the full text of the Memorandum, together with the reply of the UK Government.

For the first time, the report includes information on national campaigns in nearly all regions, including Latin America, North America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It also covers the Council of Europe’s region-wide campaign to make Europe a “corporal punishment-free zone”, and other international campaigns.

The report provides an up to date overview of the obligation to prohibit under international human rights law, and includes a global table of states’ progress towards meeting this obligation.

Together with information on useful resources to support law reform and on building faith-based support for prohibition, the report is both a snapshot of progress to date and an inspiration and resource for those just beginning the process.

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Synthesizing the presentations made by the key speakers with the issues raised in discussion and the experiences brought to the workshop by the participants, the report includes sections on:

• the elements of legal reform and details of global progress to date
  how to get laws into and through parliament, with examples of the experiences in New Zealand, Costa Rica, the Philippines and Romania
• how to engage children in the law reform process, including examples from Venezuela, Kenya and South Africa
• progress in gaining faith-based support for prohibition
• implementation of prohibition in the home and other settings, with examples from Sweden, New Zealand, South Africa and Romania
• the use of legal action and regional and international human rights mechanisms
• national lobbying to promote prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment.

The report also includes answers to frequently asked questions about prohibition, an analysis of the legality of corporal punishment in all settings in all countries, a regional analysis of ratification of international and regional complaints/communications mechanisms, and information on useful resources.

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Read the committee's recommendations...

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Download Issue 4 (September 2008)

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In the same month, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern at the legality of corporal punishment in schools in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, and recommended that the UK government ensure explicit prohibition in relation to all schools.

The Committees' recommendations are included in the individual state reports for the UK and Slovakia.

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Corporal punishment contributes to children’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation in many ways. Sexual exploitation of children depends on seeing them as objects and possessions of adults. There can be no more potent symbol of this view of children as less than equal human beings than the continuing legality of corporal punishment. Prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment of children is an important element in the fight against sexual exploitation.

Download the English language briefing here (PDF). The briefing will shortly be available in French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese.

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The Committee recommended that Eritrea, Georgia, Serbia and Sierra Leone prohibit all corporal punishment in all settings, including in the family home.

To the government in Bulgaria, where corporal punishment has already been prohibited in all settings, the Committee focused on implementation of the prohibition, recommending that the state party enforce the ban by “a) undertaking public and professional awareness raising; b) promoting non-violent, positive, participatory methods of childrearing and education and reinforcing knowledge among children of their right to protection from all forms of corporal punishment; and c) bringing offenders before the competent administrative and judicial authorities” (para. 32).

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Download Issue 3 (June 2008)

The legality of corporal punishment was discussed during examination of Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Benin, France, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, Tonga and the UK. Specific recommendations to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children were made to Argentina, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Mali, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK. (Corporal punishment is already prohibited in all settings in Netherlands and Romania.)

All documents relating to the examination of these states, including the final reports of the working group, are available on the UPR search page.

The Committee recommended that Australia, Algeria, Zambia, Macedonia, Indonesia and Costa Rica explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children.

Sweden and Iceland, which achieved prohibition in all settings in 1979 and 2003 respectively, were also examined by the Committee.

Costa Rica is already well on the way to meeting its obligations: legislation which would achieve prohibition has passed through the main parliamentary processes and only formalities remain before it becomes law.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment can be found in the individual state reports of the relevant countries.

More on this resolution and a link to the document...

Unreasonable Force: New Zealand’s Journey Towards Banning the Physical Punishment of Children, written by Beth Wood, Ian Hassall and George Hook with Robert Ludbrook, examines the 40 years of advocacy and debate which led to the repeal last year of section 59 of the Crimes Act.

The book identifies the factors that contributed to a climate in New Zealand where law reform was eventually possible, explores the roots of the old law on physical discipline in early Roman law and English common law, considers the role of religious convictions in the use of physical punishment and opposition to reform, examines the human rights imperative to give children equal protection from assault, and investigates the role of the media in the national debate. It also looks at what lies ahead now that legal prohibition is in place.

The book can be ordered using this order form (PDF).

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Download Issue 2 (April 2008)