SUDAN

Research by Save the Children Sweden in Sudan looked at children’s experiences of physical punishment at home and in school. Two reformatories and custody centres were also visited. In schools, reasons for being beaten by teachers included late arrival (41.1%) and failure to complete homework or recite Koranic verses (45.1%); of children at Koranic schools, 89% gave the main reason for corporal punishment as imperfect recitation of Koranic verses. In the home, reasons included disobedience (35.6%), persistent demands (28.4%) and making loud noises (24%); 89% of interviewed parents believed corporal punishment to be the best technique for achieving desirable behaviour in their children. The most common form of corporal punishment by teachers and parents was reported by the children as whipping (87%). Almost half (48.1%) the children stated that they would not use corporal punishment on children when they were older, but 37.9% intended to use it. The children reported experiencing corporal punishment as very painful (35.6%) and embarrassing (5.8%). The punishment also invoked fear of teachers or parents (16.3%), weakness (9.8%), lack of respect for the person inflicting the punishment (8.6%) and hatred of the people and the setting where the punishment was carried out (12.3%). In the reformatories and custody centres visited, 65% of juvenile offenders said they had received corporal punishment at some stage of the juvenile justice process; 87% of those interviewed while in custody said they had been beaten by police to obtain a confession. Children with a variety of disabilities (including deafness, blindness, other physical and mental disabilities) were asked for their views on corporal punishment. Forty-three per cent of mentally disabled children stated that it was bad to be beaten by anybody. They said that they felt distressed and sad when somebody beat them.

(Save the Children Sweden, 2005, Ending Physical and Psychological Punishment against Children: Sudan, Ethiopia: Save the Children Sweden)