KENYAKENYAA study of the relationship between gender and physical punishment in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and the US, which used interviews with around 4,000 mothers, fathers and children aged 7-10, found that in Kenya 82% of girls and 97% of boys involved in the study had experienced “mild” corporal punishment (spanking, hitting, or slapping with a bare hand; hitting or slapping on the hand, arm, or leg; shaking; or hitting with an object), and 61% of girls and 62% of boys had experienced severe corporal punishment (hitting or slapping the child on the face, head, or ears; beating the child repeatedly with an implement) by someone in their household in the past month. Smaller percentages of parents believed it was necessary to use corporal punishment to bring up their child: for girls, 44% of mothers and 48% of fathers believed it was necessary; for boys, 56% of mothers and 54% of fathers believed it was necessary.
(Lansford, J. et al, 2010, “Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a Function of Child Gender and Parent Gender”, International Journal of Pediatrics)
According to statistics from UNICEF relating to the period 2001-2007, of girls and women aged 15-49, 68% 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)
A survey of 500 young women in Kenya aged 18-24 concerning their childhood experiences of violence, undertaken by the Africa Child Policy Forum and published in 2006, found that 99% reported experiencing physical violence. Beating with an object was found to be the most prevalent form of physical violence (80.8%), though the research does not investigate the degree to which this and other physical violence was explicitly in the name of “discipline”. Prevalence figures for other forms of physical violence were 59.5% for punching, 39.6% kicking, 43.8% hard work, 20.5% being choked/burned/stabbed, 12.3% having spicy/bitter substances put in mouth, 14.3% being locked or tied up, and 35% being denied food. Girls were found to be most vulnerable when aged 10-13 years. Experiencing the violence more than ten times was more likely in the case of beating than other types of physical violence. Most beating with an object was carried out by mothers (23.5%), followed by female teachers (15.3%) and fathers (13.3%). Most hitting/punching was carried out by female teachers (16.1%), followed by mothers (14.2%) and male teachers (11.3%), with medical attention necessary in 20% of cases. In 52.3% of cases, the hitting/punching resulted in “bruises or scratches, broken bones or teeth, or bleeding”; the figure for beating with an object was 64.6%.
(Stavropoulos, J., 2006, Violence Against Girls in Africa: A Retrospective Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, Addis Ababa, The African Child Policy Forum)
A survey of 267 adults and children and interviews with parents, teachers and children, reported in 2005, found that the most frequent forms of physical discipline used on children were smacking (78.8%), pulling ears (68.8%) and cuffing (61.5%). Other corporal punishments included forcing a child to kneel on a hard floor (45.9%), tapping (43.3%), forcing a child to stand in the sun (33.2%) and burning fingers (19.7%). Almost two thirds of children (62.2%) said they wanted the use of corporal punishment to be stopped. Over half of parents (54%) said that physical punishment should not be stopped.
(ANPPCAN Kenya Chapter, 2005, From Physical Punishment to Positive Discipline: Alternatives to Physical/Corporal Punishment in Kenya, second draft)
A 2004 survey by Population Communication Africa reported that over 60% of children believed that they had been or were being physically abused at school, including being slapped in the face, being hit on the body with a cane or stick, and being beaten, kicked or punched or otherwise physically bullied.
(Johnston, T., 2004, Gender Series: The Abuse of Nairobi School Children, Population Communication Africa: Nairobi, cited in O'Sullivan, M., 2005, "Corporal Punishment in Kenya", Juvenile Justice Quarterly, vol.2, no.1)