 |
||
|
|
FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH
Aim
We are aiming to build up and make widely available a global map of the prevalence and legality of corporal punishment and progress towards ending it. So we want to collect the following information for each state (brief information, aiming at no more than one or two A4 sides for each state, following the standard format below, but with full references to more detailed information if it is available).
If you are able to contribute, please send information and details of sources to info@endcorporalpunishment.org
We hope that the process of collecting the information from government and other sources may form the basis for national campaigns and help to get the issue onto political and other agendas.
Information required
- legal status of corporal punishment of children:
- in the home
- in schools
- in other institutions and forms of alternative care/daycare
- in the penal system - as a sentence of the courts and as a punishment in penal institutions
- in situations of child labour
(see detailed notes below)
- any recent research on prevalence of and attitudes to corporal punishment, including for example interview research with children, parents, teachers (brief summary of any key findings and references)
- any significant progress towards challenging corporal punishment -
- legal reform (eg official reports recommending reform; private member’s bill, etc)
- public education: any major and/or government-sponsored or NGO campaigns
Also: the contact details (address, phone, fax, e mail) for:
Prime Minister; responsible Ministers/government departments; human rights institutions, law commissions, key NGOs or coalitions of NGOs.Notes on researching the legal status of corporal punishment
Most countries have assault laws — making it a crime to hit or otherwise assault another person. Many have child protection laws prohibiting cruelty to children and some have constitutions which guarantee protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments. But in very few if any states will any of this legislation protect children from being hit by parents and other carers. In some states, the right of parents, teachers and others to use "reasonable" physical punishment, is actually written into the law, with special defences available: "reasonable chastisement", "lawful correction", etc. In other states the law is silent but this "right" has been confirmed in judgments of courts, or is simply accepted throughout society. Systems of "customary" or local or regional law may need to be reviewed as well.
No state can say it has prohibited all corporal punishment unless any existing legal defences have been explicitly removed and the government and courts clearly interpret the legislation as prohibiting all corporal punishment.
Most of the 10 countries which have prohibited all corporal punishment have done so by putting a statement in their family or children’s law that it is prohibited. The effect of this is to make it completely clear that the criminal law on assault applies equally to parents and others who hit children as a form of "discipline". Once a state has prohibited all corporal punishment in this way, the protection covers children wherever they are — at home, in day care, in schools and other institutions, in employment and so on.
But until there is such a clear prohibition it is important to look at individual laws — child care, education, juvenile justice - to see if there has been some progress to protect children from corporal punishment.
Enforcement: The fact that there is a clear law in place, for example prohibiting school corporal punishment, does not mean that corporal punishment is no longer used. It is important to find out what systems if any are in place to enforce the law: independent inspection, complaints procedures that students can use and so on. Has there been any research asking children themselves whether corporal punishment is still being used?
Schools: there may be different laws or regulations applying to state schools, church schools and private schools, or to schools with different ages of pupils.
Alternative care: in most countries there are many different kinds of residential children’s homes and orphanages, run by the state, by voluntary and church organisations and private bodies. There may be regulations applying only to state-run bodies and they may allow or prohibit corporal punishment. Foster-parents are likely to have the same rights as parents, but some countries have regulations prohibiting the use of corporal punishment of foster-children.
Daycare: again, there is a wide variety of daycare — places where young children are looked after while their parents are working: nurseries, crèches, daycare centres. There may also be childminders — people paid to look after groups of young children in their own home. It is important to find out what, if any, regulation there is of the various forms of day care. If the law is silent, these carers will have the same rights as parents to use corporal punishment.
Penal system: in some countries courts can still sentence children and young people to be caned, whipped or flogged. In penal institutions, corporal punishment may be allowed as a punishment. There may also be customary systems of justice and punishment operating locally which include corporal punishment.
Other institutions: are there any other state or private institutions caring for or providing treatment for children where corporal punishment may be used (for example, health or mental health — psychiatric — institutions)?
Child labour: employers may use corporal punishment in situations of child labour.