INDIAINDIAA 2011 report on gender equality which involved 6,011 respondents aged 10-35 found that physical, verbal and emotional violence, including in the name of “discipline”, was common in homes and schools, and that mothers and fathers were the main perpetrators of violence.
(Plan India, 2011, Engaging Men and Boys towards Gender Equality: The State of the Girl Child in India 2011)
A large scale comparative study (World Studies of Abuse in the Family Environment (WorldSAFE)) which involved surveys with over 14,000 mothers of children aged under 18, carried out between 1998 and 2003, examined parental discipline in Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Philippines, and the United States. In India, the rate of “moderate” physical discipline (including “spanking” a child’s buttocks, hitting a child with an object, slapping a child’s face and putting hot pepper in a child’s mouth) ranged from 63% in urban and rural communities in Vellore to 89% in a rural community in Bhopal. The rate of harsh physical discipline (including burning, beating up, kicking and smothering a child) ranged from 2.7% in a non-slum community in Delhi to 39% in a rural community in Bhopal. The rate of harsh psychological discipline such as calling children names, cursing them and threatening to abandon them or kick them out ranged from 40% in a non-slum community in Chennai to 81% in a rural community in Lucknow. “Moderate” psychological discipline, including yelling or screaming at children, refusing to speak to them or witholding food was experienced by between 76% of children (in a rural community in Vellore) and 96% of children (in an urban slum community in Nagpur). Non-violent discipline, including explaining why a behaviour was wrong and telling a child to stop, was also widely used (89-99%). The study found that rates of harsh physical discipline were dramatically higher in all communities than published rates of official physical abuse in any country, and that rates of physical punishment can vary widely among communities within the same country.
(Runyan, D. et al, 2010, “International Variations in Harsh Child Discipline”, Pediatrics, published online 2 August 2010, www.pediatrics.org)
According to statistics from UNICEF relating to the period 2001-2007, of girls and women aged 15-49, 54% 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
www.childinfo.org/files/Progress_for_Children-No.8_EN.pdf)
In February 2008 the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights published a report on the state of penal institutions for children in conflict with the law, based on a detailed study of juvenile care centres (“juvenile homes”) across the country. Physical punishment was found to be a dominant disciplinary method in 70% of the centres.
(Reported in BigNewsNetwork.com, 18 February 2008)
In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, published the first nationwide study on child abuse in India, based on the experiences of 12,447 children aged 5-18 years from across 13 states and also involving 2,324 young adults (aged 18-24) and 2,449 stakeholders (adults holding positions in government departments, private service and urban and rural local bodies, and individuals from the community). The study revealed a high prevalence of corporal punishment of children in all the settings – their family homes, schools, institutions and on the streets. Of the total number of children, 69% reported physical abuse, including corporal punishment, in one or more situations, more commonly (54.68%) boys and young children (48.29%). In the 5-12 age group, nearly three out of four (72.2)% reported physical abuse in one or more situations, in the 13-14 year age group 70.61%, and among 15-18 year olds 62.13%. Of children abused within the family, in the majority of cases the perpetrators were parents (reported by 88.6% of respondents – 50.9% mothers, 37.6% fathers). The second most commonly reported perpetrators were teachers (44.8%), followed by employers (12.39%), caregivers (9.45%), NGO workers (4.78%) and others. The difference between boys and girls was marginal, but age was significant, with young children aged 5-12 the most vulnerable and the risk declining for children aged 13-14 and again for adolescents aged 15-18. The most commonly reported punishment was being slapped and kicked (63.67%), followed by being beaten with a stave or stick (31.31%), and being pushed, shaken, etc (5.02%). For many (15.6%) the hurt resulted in serious physical injury, swelling or bleeding. When stakeholders were asked for their views on physical/corporal punishment, over 44.54% felt it was necessary in disciplining children; 25.45% disagreed with its necessity; 30.01% expressed no opinion. When asked about most suitable form of punishment for discipline, 35.24% said scolding or shouting, 11.31% slapping or beating with a stick, almost 11% felt locking a child in a room or denying food was suitable punishment.
(Kacker, L., Varadan, S. & Kumar, P. (2007), Study on Child Abuse: India 2007, New Dehli: Ministry of Women and Child Development)
As part of the Supporting Positive Alternatives in Raising Kindness in Education (SPARKE) project, questionnaires with teachers, parents and 201 students aged 8-18 were carried out before and after a project which aimed to promote the use of positive discipline in five schools in northern India. Before the project, 78.9% of boys and 40.7% of girls aged 8-11, 74.1% of boys and 54.3% of girls aged 12-15 and 80% of boys and 65.2% of girls aged 16-18 had experienced corporal punishment in the past year. More than eight teachers in ten (83.33%) had used corporal punishment, 43.52% “occasionally”, 33.33% a few times a month and 6.48% at least once a week. Types of corporal punishment included forcing children to stay in uncomfortable or painful positions or do physical exercise, twisting children’s ears, slapping, pinching, caning and kicking children. Students also experienced verbal punishments, such as being ridiculed or insulted. Before the project, 72.28% of teachers wanted to find alternatives to corporal punishment and 87.74% thought that teaching staff needed training in alternative disciplining methods. Nearly seven in ten teachers (68.32%) and 44-87% of students said they would like to be part of a group in their school working against corporal punishment. After the project, 33.33% of boys and 10.34% of girls aged 8-11, 52.24% of boys and 34.69% of girls aged 12-15 and 48.15% of boys and 25.93% of girls aged 16-18 had experienced corporal punishment in the past ten months. Before the project, between 39% and 69% of students thought that corporal punishment should be used in school. After the project, 13%-39% thought that corporal punishment should be used in school, with 52-80% thinking it should not be used, and 73-84% saying they would like their teachers to use positive discipline methods instead of corporal punishment.
(Cedar Woods Consulting Group for SOIR-IM, 2007, Supporting Positive Alternatives in Raising Kindness in Education: The SPARKE Research Report)
A survey in 2004 of 1,500 adolescents in ten government schools of Chandigarh, carried out by the Advanced Pediatric Center, PGI found that the prevalence rate of corporal punishment was 22%.
(Reported in Chandigarh Newsline, 21 June 2007)
A 2004 study by the NGO Aapanach found that, of 350 children surveyed from public, private, and municipal schools, over 75% said that they received punishment at school, and nearly 60% said the most frequent form of punishment was caning or hitting with a ruler. It was common for the whole class to be punished (66%). A third (33%) reported cases of severe injury due to punishment.
(Reported in cities.expressindia.com, 7 April 2007)
Research in urban schools in Andhra Pradesh in 2006 found that 59% of students said they had been hit on the palms of the hands with a cane by a teacher and 71% had witnessed this kind of punishment in school. Other kinds of corporal punishment experienced by children included forcing them to kneel in uncomfortable positions, slapping or spanking and beating on the knuckles. 45% of students said that they had witnessed corporal punishment which caused swelling and 22% had seen it cause bleeding. 13% had witnessed corporal punishment which necessitated a visit to a doctor. Only 25% of students who experienced corporal punishment at school chose to tell their parents about it. 23% of those who did not tell their parents said that this was because their parents would beat them too. Children from lower income groups were more likely to experience corporal punishment. The research involved nearly 600 children and over 300 adults, including teachers and parents, through interviews and group discussions.
(Devi Prasad, B., 2006, Spare the Rod and Save the Child: A Study of the Corporal punishment in urban schools of Andhra Pradesh, Child Rights Advocacy Foundation-Vijayawada
www.endcorporalpunishment.org/children/countries/india/india-research.html)
A large scale research study conducted in May 2006 by Saath Charitable Trust and supported by Plan International (India) looked at children’s experiences of corporal punishment in schools and in the home in one district in each of four states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The research involved 1,591 children mostly from 41 schools as well as members of various children’s organisations. Parents, teachers, community members, government officials and other adults were also consulted. The main methods used were interviews, focus group discussions, role play and classroom observation. The study found corporal punishment to be an accepted way of life in all schools and communities visited. The most common forms of punishment were hitting with hands and stick, pulling hair and ears, and telling children to stand for long periods in various positions. Threats of physical violence were common. Severe forms of corporal punishment were also encountered, including being severely kicked, starvation, tying with rope to chairs/poles followed by beatings, and being assigned physically strenuous labour (e.g. in the fields). In all schools, there would be at least five beatings every day, in addition to other more moderate forms of punishment, though the punishments were less severe than those experienced in the home. Punishment in the home was inflicted by mothers and fathers on both girls and boys with equal severity, more frequently for boys.
(Saath Charitable Trust/Plan International, India, 2006, Impact of Corporal Punishment on School Children: A Research Study – Final Report)