SWAZILAND

According to statistics from UNICEF relating to the period 2001-2007, of girls and women aged 15-49, 38% 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 large scale survey by Save the Children in 2005 looked at the experience over a two week period of corporal punishment of 2,366 children aged 6-18 years from all of Swaziland's four regions. Children revealed being subjected to high levels of corporal punishment in the home and at school: 18% reported being hit with the hand in the home during the period; 28% reported being beaten with objects such as sticks, belts, sjamboks and whips. Boys were punished for such behaviour as breaking or stealing things, not tending livestock properly, playing instead of working, or playing out too late. Young children, particularly girls, were punished in connection with household chores. In school during the two weeks, 28% of children reported being hit with a hand, and 59% reported being beaten with an object, most often sticks, canes, sjamboks and blackboard dusters. Other punishments included physical labour or physical (and often humiliating) activities causing pain and discomfort. Children reported experiencing humiliating punishment, 35% in the home, 28% in school, in addition to experiencing corporal punishment itself as humiliating. Generally, corporal punishment was more commonly used in low income environments and on younger children. 77% of children considered corporal punishment to be unacceptable in the home and in school; 81% felt humiliating punishment to be unacceptable. The study also involved qualitative research with 384 children from the regions.

(Clacherty, G., Donald, D. & Clacherty, A., 2005, Children's Experiences of Corporal Punishment in Swaziland, Pretoria: Save the Children Sweden)
Further details on Children and research section