Lawfulness of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. The Civil Code (2002) allows correction of children by those exercising guardianship over them, though this should not include measures which affect the physical or psychological integrity of the child (article 423).

Children have limited protection from violence and abuse under the Law for the Protection for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (2000), the Criminal Code (1984, amended 2003) provisions on ill-treatment of children (article 295), the Law on Assistance and Prevention of Domestic Violence (1996), in which abuse is defined as acts of violence that harm the child’s physical and psychological health and well-being (article 3), and the Civil Code prohibition of abuse which compromises the child’s health, safety or morals (article 4224). Most states have state-level legislation against domestic violence and child abuse.

Schools

There is no explicit prohibition at the federal level of corporal punishment in schools. Article 32 of the Law for the Protection for the Rights of Children and Adolescents states that children have a right to an education that respects their dignity and indicates that laws must promote the necessary measures to impede discipline in educational institutions which affects a child’s dignity or physical or mental integrity. Article 13 states that in schools or institutions, educators and teachers must avoid any form of ill-treatment, harm, injury, aggression, abuse or exploitation against boys and girls. Abuse of authority is punishable administratively under article 8 of the Federal Act on the Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants, without prejudice to any criminal actions brought against the perpetrators. The General Education Act (1993) does not refer to violence or provide for sanctions in schools. In Sonora, the State Education Act (amended 1998) prohibits persons providing educational services from violating students’ physical, mental or moral integrity.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. The Constitution states (article 22): “Punishment by mutilation and infamy, branding, flogging, beating with sticks, torture of any kind, excessive fines, confiscation of property and any other unusual or extreme penalties are prohibited.” A number of state laws prohibit torture which is defined as including deliberate infliction of an injury for the purpose of punishment (e.g. the State of Yucatán’s Act to Prevent and Punish Torture, 2003, and the Criminal Code of the Federal District, 2002).

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees and inmates is punishable under article 13 of the Federal Public Defenders Act (1998). Article 8 of the Federal Act on the Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants and article 13 of the Law for the Protection for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (see above) also apply. Article 3 of the Law for the Treatment of Juvenile Offenders for the Federal District in common matters and for all the Republic in federal matters (1992) states that children must receive fair, humane treatment and prohibits “abuse, being held incommunicado, psychological coercion or any other action that threatens their dignity or physical or mental well-being”. According to legal opinion, this is inadequate as a prohibition against corporal punishment. Other applicable legislation includes the Federal Code of Penal Procedure (amended 2003), the Federal Act against Organized Crime (amended 2003) and the Act Establishing Minimum Rules for the Special Rehabilitation of Convicted Persons (amended 2003). In 2004, the Federal Executive recommended review of the criminal justice system, including the enactment of a Juvenile Criminal Justice Act.

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is lawful in other institutions and forms of childcare. The general provisions against violence and abuse in the Law for the Protection for the Rights of Children and Adolescents and the Criminal Code and article 8 of the Federal Act on the Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants (see above) apply.

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

Research in 1983 looked at two indigenous Zapotec communities in Oaxaca, one characterised as “peaceful”, the other as “aggressive”, and their disciplinary practices, using structured interviews with fathers and ethnographic and ethological observations, mostly within family compounds, of 48 children aged 3-8 years (24 girls, 24 boys). Structured interviews revealed that fathers advocated physical punishment of their children for various behaviours on average in around 50% of cases for the “aggressive” community, with 71% recommending its use for disobedience by sons, compared with 22% for the “peaceful” community, with 39% recommending it for disobedience by daughters. Ethnographic observations revealed the use of “minor” forms of punishment (knuckle raps, slaps, pulls, pushes) in both communities, and severe forms only in the “aggressive” community (beatings with sticks, ropes and belts, throwing rocks, kicking, and striking forcefully with the hand).
(Fry, D. P., 1993, “The intergenerational transmission of disciplinary practices and approaches to conflict”, Human Organization, vol.52, no.2, pp.176-185)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

“The Committee is deeply concerned about the fact that corporal punishment is still lawful in the home, and is not explicitly prohibited in the schools, in penal institutions and in alternative care settings. It is further concerned that children have limited protection from violence and abuse under the law, and consequently that corporal punishment is widely used within the family, in schools and other institutions.

“The Committee recommends that the State party, taking into account its General Comment no. 8 (2006) on the Right of the Child to Protection from Corporal Punishment and Other Cruel or Degrading Forms of Punishment:

1. amend all relevant federal and state laws to ensure that corporal punishment is explicitly prohibited in all settings, including the family, schools, penal institutions, and alternative care settings, and ensure the effective implementation of these laws;
2. take effective measures, including through public awareness campaigns, to promote alternative, positive, participatory and non-violent forms of discipline.

“While welcoming the measures taken to encourage indigenous children to attend schools, the Committee remains deeply concerned at the limited enjoyment of rights by indigenous children....

“The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to protect the rights of indigenous children against discrimination and to guarantee their enjoyment of the rights enshrined in domestic law and in the Convention. The Committee further recommends that the State party provide indigenous communities, with sufficient information, in their own language as well as in a child friendly format, regarding birth registration procedures, child labour, education and health, HIV/AIDS, child abuse and neglect, including corporal punishment....”
(2 June 2006, Unedited Version, CRC/C/MEX/CO/3, Concluding observations on third report, paras. 35, 36 (a and b), 72 and 73)

“… Concern is also expressed that domestic legislation, at both the federal and state levels, does not explicitly prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools. In the light of, inter alia, articles 19 and 39 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party continue taking effective measures, including setting up multidisciplinary treatment and rehabilitation programmes, to prevent and combat child abuse and ill-treatment of children within the family, at school and in society at large. It suggests that law enforcement should be strengthened with respect to such crimes, that adequate procedures and mechanisms to deal effectively with complaints of child abuse should be reinforced in order to provide children with prompt access to justice and that the use of corporal punishment at home, in schools and other institutions, be explicitly prohibited by law. Furthermore, educational programmes should be established to combat traditional attitudes within society regarding this issue. The Committee encourages the State party to consider seeking international cooperation to this effect from, inter alia, UNICEF and international non-governmental organizations.”
(10 November 1999, CRC/C/15/Add.112, Concluding observations on second report, para. 25)

“… The Committee is also preoccupied by the existence on a large scale of child abuse and violence within the family.

“The Committee recommends that urgent measures be adopted to combat discrimination against children belonging to the most vulnerable groups, in particular children subject to abuse or violence within the family, children living and/or working in the streets and children belonging to indigenous communities, including measures to eliminate and prevent discriminatory attitudes and prejudices such as those based on gender…”
(7 February 1994, CRC/C/15/Add.13, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 10 and 18)