Date: March 2005

More European states announce prohibition

The Government of the Netherlands announced in February 2005 that it would prohibit all corporal punishment later this year. Legislation is currently being drafted. The Slovak Republic and Slovenia have also indicated that they are planning law reform, in governmental responses to a questionnaire circulated by the UN Secretary General's Study on violence against children (see www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/study.htm). The Slovak Republic states in its response that its national legislation does not explicitly prohibit corporal punishment of children and does not specifically address violence against children in the family: "A number of countries have already passed a law prohibiting the use of corporal punishment and the Slovak Republic will follow suit." Slovenia states that explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in the family will be considered as part of comprehensive new family legislation.

Top