MOZAMBIQUE

In 2009, over 2600 children aged 6-18 took part in a survey, while 168 children drew pictures and talked about the last time they were punished at home and at school. The research found that one child in three had been hit with a hand at home in the past two weeks, and 37% had been beaten with an object. 6-8 year olds were more likely to have been hit than older children, and children from low income families were more likely to have been hit than children from high income families. About one child in three had been hit with a hand at school in the past two weeks, and 40% had been hit with an object at school in the past two weeks.

(Clacherty, G., Donald, D., and Clacherty, A., 2009, Children’s Experiences of Punishment in Mozambique: A Qualitative and Quantitative Survey, Pretoria: Save the Children Sweden.
See our Research and children section for more information.)

According to UN statistics, in 2003 significant proportions of women believed that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife for specific reasons: 24% for burning the food, 33% for arguing with him, 37% for going out without telling him, 38% for neglecting the children and 34% for refusing to have sex.

(United Nations, 2010, The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics, New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs)