World religious leaders support prohibition of corporal punishment

During the 8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace, held in Kyoto, Japan, in August 2006, more than 800 religious leaders from nearly 100 countries addressed the issue of religious responses to violence in their communities, including violence against children. Religions represented included Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Shinto, Zoroastrian and Indigenous religious communities.

One outcome was the adoption of a Declaration on Violence against Children, entitled “A Multi-Religious Commitment to Confront Violence against Children”, which states in its opening paragraph:

“As representatives of various religious communities gathered at the Religions for Peace VIII World Assembly in Kyoto, Japan, we are committed to confront the reality of violence we are committed to confront the reality of violence that affects children in our societies. We offer our support to mobilizing the international community through the United Nations Study on Violence against Children to address these critical issues, and we are ready to work in partnership with governments, UN agencies, and other civil society actors to implement the recommendations of this study.”

The declaration outlines eight recommendations and commitments concerning religious responses to violence against children, including the role of religious communities in prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment:

“1. We will create greater awareness in our communities about the impact of all forms of violence against children, and work actively to change attitudes and practices that perpetuate violence in homes, families, institutions and communities, including corporal punishment, emotional and sexual violence.
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3. We have an important obligation to teach and train our children, which involves discipline and helping children understand their responsibilities. We will educate and train parents, teachers, religious leaders and others who work with children to find non-violent forms of discipline and education that will ensure their proper upbringing and protect them from violent actions.
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6. We call upon our governments to adopt legislation to prohibit all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment, and to ensure the full rights of children, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international and regional agreements. We urge them to establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of these laws and to ensure that religious communities participate formally in these mechanisms. Our religious communities are ready to serve as monitors of implementation, making use of national and international bodies to maintain accountability.”

In follow-up to the declaration, Religions for Peace is working with UNICEF to prepare a resource kit on violence against children, due to be launched by the end of 2007.

The full text of the Kyoto Declaration on Violence against Children is available as a PDF.

Further information is available on the World Assembly website at www.wcrp.org/about/assemblies/kyoto-2006.

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