Two more countries achieve prohibition – Spain and Chile join the list of states officially banning corporal punishment of children by parents

Chile and Spain have enacted legislation which prohibits all corporal punishment of children, including by parents. In both cases, Civil Code provisions which recognised the “right” of parents to punish/correct their children in the name of discipline have been amended, and children now have the same protection from assault as adults. The Spanish “right to punish” has been repealed and replaced by an obligation on those with parental responsibility, in exercising that responsibility, to respect the physical and psychological integrity of their children. In Chile, legislation now makes clear that the law allowing parents to “correct” their children excludes all forms of physical punishment.

The new laws mark the close of a momentous year in which seven states have achieved full prohibition. And the drive to legal reform looks set to continue. At least a further 15 governments have made a public commitment to full prohibition, and law reform is in progress in many others. The report of the UN Study on Violence against Children set a target of 2009 for the prohibition in law of all corporal punishment of children, in all settings, worldwide.

Click her for further details of prohibition in Spain and Chile, and information on other states prohibiting all corporal punishment.

Details of all laws relating to corporal punishment of children, as well as research and recommendations from human rights treaty monitoring bodies, are available in the full country reports for Spain and Chile.

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