Date: March 2005

Caribbean region: report calls for law reform to end legalised violence against children

The first in a series of regional consultations on violence against children takes place in Trinidad, March 10 - 11 2005. The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children is issuing a report which calls on all States in the region to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment, linking law reform with awareness-raising on children's right to protection.

The consultation is linked to the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against children, which will report in 2006: for details click here.

The report includes a foreword from the chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Jaap E. Doek, who concludes: "If we all want a violence-free society, we must hope that the context of the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children will accelerate moves to prohibit and eliminate all corporal punishment as an unacceptable violation of human dignity and physical integrity".

The report is endorsed by children's rights and child protection NGOs and human rights organisations in the region. Click here for PDF (760 KB) of the report.

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