Summary of law reform necessary to achieve full prohibition

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

We have been unable to establish whether or not written law confirms a “right” of parents to inflict “reasonable” or “moderate” punishment on their children, but legal provisions against violence and abuse are not interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment. The near universal acceptance of a certain degree of violence in childrearing necessitates clarity in law that no degree or type of corporal punishment is acceptable or lawful. Explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment, however light, should be enacted, together with the repeal of any legal defences for its use.

Explicit prohibition should also be enacted in legislation applicable to all alternative care settings, including public and private day care, residential institutions, foster care, etc.

Current legality of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. Provisions against violence and abuse in the Code for the System of Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents (2003), the Law Against Domestic Violence (1997), the Constitution (2002), the Criminal Code (2007) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (2002) are not interpreted as prohibiting corporal punishment in childrearing.

Schools

Corporal punishment is unlawful in schools under the Education Act (1997, amended 2007) and the Code for the System of Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents (articles 48 and 49).

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. Article 8 of the Constitution prohibits punishment which violates physical integrity, and in article 303 of the Criminal Code corporal punishment is among the acts defined as torture or acts of barbarity, punished with imprisonment. Article 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (2002) states that the courts shall give precedence to the Constitution and to international treaties in applying the law, and article 10 protects the dignity of the person and prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. There are similar provisions in the Code for the System of Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents (articles 12 and 246) and the Code does not include corporal punishment among permitted sanctions.

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions under article 349 of the Code for the System of Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents, which states that in the implementation and enforcement of sanctions, no young person should be subjected to corporal punishment. Article 384 states that the internal regulations of penal institutions should comply with the Code.

Alternative care

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

Prevalence research

According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, 83% of children aged 2-14 experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression in 2005-2006: 45% experienced physical punishment and psychological aggression, 27% experienced psychological aggression only and 12% experienced physical punishment only. In total, 57% of children experienced physical punishment, while only 9% of mothers and caregivers believe that physical punishment is necessary in childrearing. Of girls and women aged 15-49, 9% 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)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee notes the clear definition of physical abuse established in Law No. 136-03 and welcomes that corporal punishment has been made unlawful in schools and abolished as a sentence in the justice system. The Committee is concerned that no explicit prohibition for corporal punishment exists for all other settings, including in the educational setting, in institutions of alternative care and in the family environment.

“The Committee recommends that the State party explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings by law as a matter of priority and provide training for parents and all professionals involved with children on alternative forms of discipline, in line with 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 (CRC/C/GC/8).”

(11 February 2008, CRC/C/DOM/CO/2, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 45 and 46)

Universal Periodic Review

The Dominican Republic was examined in the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2009. The Government accepted the recommendations to prohibit all corporal punishment of children (4 January 2010, A/HRC/13/3, Report of the Working Group, para. 87(14)). Examination in the second cycle is scheduled for 2014.