Summary of law reform necessary to achieve full prohibition

Prohibition is still to be achieved in the home, penal institutions and alternative care settings.

The acceptance of corporal punishment in childrearing necessitates clarity in law that no kind or degree of corporal punishment is lawful or acceptable. Legislation should explicitly repeal the “right” to inflict corporal punishment and prohibit such punishment by all persons with authority over children, including by parents.

Explicit prohibition of corporal punishment should be enacted in relation to disciplinary measures in all institutions accommodating children in conflict with the law, and in all alternative care settings, including public and private day care, residential care, foster care, etc.

Current legality of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home, where a right to inflict corporal punishment on women and children is recognised. Provisions against violence and abuse in the Penal Code (1967, amended 1997) and the Constitution (1996) are not interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment of children. As at January 2010, a draft Family Code and a draft Child Protection Code are under discussion which state that family discipline should respect a child’s dignity, but do not prohibit all corporal punishment.

Schools

Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools under article 35 of the Law of Cameroon National Educational Guidelines No. 98/004 (1998). It is explicitly prohibited in the draft Child Protection Code.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. It is not among permitted sentences in the Criminal Procedure Code (2005) and the Penal Code.

Corporal punishment appears to be unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions, but we have been unable to establish whether it is explicitly prohibited. Article 615 of the Code of Criminal Investigation states that “the use of force in the process of arrest, detention or execution of a sentence is a crime except where authorized by law”. Decree No. 92/052 (1992) prohibits police from using the baton or whip as a means to extract confessions, and ill-treatment against detainees is punishable under Order No. 080 (1983). The draft Child Protection Code explicitly prohibits corporal punishment of children in detention.

Alternative care

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in alternative care settings.

Prevalence research

According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, 92% of children aged 2-14 experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression in 2005-2006: 69% experienced physical punishment and psychological aggression, 16% experienced psychological aggression only and 7% experienced physical punishment only. Disabled children were more likely to experience harsh discipline: 30% of disabled children aged 2-9 were hit on the face, head or ears, hit repeatedly or hit hard, compared with 24% of non-disabled children. Of girls and women aged 15-49, 56% think that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances. (UNICEF (2009), Progress for Children: A report card on child protection, NY: UNICEF)

According to a study on corporal punishment made by the NGO EMEDA with UNICEF support in December 2000, 81.4% of families admitted to using corporal punishment against children as an educational measure. (Reported by UNICEF in correspondence with the Global Initiative, June 2004)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to address those recommendations from the concluding observations of the initial report (CRC/C/15/Add.164 of 2001) that have not yet been implemented or sufficiently implemented, including those related to ... corporal punishment....

“The Committee notes with satisfaction that corporal punishment is forbidden in schools and unlawful as a sentence for crime in the penal system. However, the Committee is deeply concerned that corporal punishment still occurs in schools despite the school regulations and remains lawful and frequent in homes. In addition the Committee regrets that it is not explicitly prohibited by the law in alternative care settings and in situations of employment.

“The Committee urges the State party to:

1. explicitly prohibit by law all forms of corporal punishment in all settings, including the home, alternative care institutions and in situations of employment;
2. ensure that the existing and future prohibitions are adequately monitored and enforced; and
3. take into account the Committee’s General Comment No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment.”

 (29 January 2010, CRC/C/CMR/CO/2 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 8, 37 and 38)

 “… The Committee is also concerned at the very high prevalence of violence and sexual abuse against children in schools.

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

f) monitor and enforce the ban of corporal punishment at schools and train teachers with alternative measures of discipline;

g) take measures against teachers who are violent and abusive against students….”

 (12 October 2001, CRC/C/15/Add.164, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 54 and 55)