GHANAGHANAA survey carried out by Action Aid in collaboration with Songtaba in 2009 found that seven boys in eight thought that corporal punishment, such as being caned, having their ears pulled or forced to kneel, weed or dig pits, was necessary, while more than a quarter of the girls interviewed said they would absent themselves from school because of the fear of punishment.
(Reported in Modern Ghana, 6 September 2011, www.modernghana.com)
A survey of 2,314 parents, students and graduates carried out by the Campaign for Female Education found that 94% of parents, 92% of students and 89% of female graduates supported corporal punishment in schools and 64% of teachers said that it must be tolerated.
(Reported in GhanaWeb, 18 August 2011)
A government report involving 4,164 children found that 81% of children experienced corporal punishment in the home and that at school, caning was the main punishment, experienced by 71% of children.
(Reported in “Eighty-nine percent of children believe in correction when at fault - IRAD Report”, Business Ghana, 1 Feb 2011)
A UNICEF report published in 2010 states that 90% of children aged 2-14 experienced violent discipline (physical punishment and/or psychological aggression) in 2005-2006. Seven children in ten experienced physical punishment, while a smaller percentage (46%) of mothers and caregivers thought that physical punishment was necessary in childrearing, and non-violent discipline was also widely used: experienced by 88% of children. One child in ten experienced severe physical punishment (being hit or slapped on the face, head or ears or being hit over and over with an implement) and 84% experienced psychological aggression (being shouted at, yelled at, screamed at or insulted). No significant differences in children’s experience of violent discipline were found according to sex, age, household size, level of education of adults in the household or engagement in child labour.
(UNICEF, 2010, Child Disciplinary Practices at Home: Evidence from a Range of Low- and Middle-Income Countries, NY: UNICEF)
Investigations into care institutions and schools in Ghana revealed that corporal punishment of children was widely used by caregivers and teachers. Types of corporal punishment included caning, kicking and slapping. As a result of corporal punishment, some children had developed fear and dislike for their caregivers, with many others playing truant to escape corporal punishment at school.
(Reported in “Scarred With Whips: The agony of Osu Children’s Home inmates”, MyJoyOnline, 10 Sept 2010, www.myjoyonline.com)
A study on children’s perceptions of physical punishment which used interviews, diaries and a questionnaire found a high prevalence of physical punishment. Of the 158 children in private schools who completed a questionnaire, 61.4% experienced some physical punishment at the hands of parents or primary caregivers, with 30.4% experiencing only physical methods of punishment at home. Seven in ten (70.9%) of survey respondents said that school was the place in which they were most likely to be physically punished. Caning was the most common method of physical punishment at home and at school.
(Twum-Danso, A., 2010, Children’s Perceptions of Physical Punishment in Ghana, Nuffield Foundation)
According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, in 2005-2006 children with disabilities were more likely to experience severe physical punishment: 15% of disabled children aged 2-9 were hit or slapped on the face, head or ears or hit over and over as hard as possible with an implement, compared with 8% of non-disabled children. Forty-seven per cent of girls and women aged 15-49 thought 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)