Submitted by crinadmin on
Day 2 , Thematic Discussions: Corporal punishment, violence in the home
and in the community
A presentation on Ending corporal punishment by Ms. Severine Jacomy,
representing the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of
Children looked at some of the effects of violence and recommendations
children made in terms of physical punishment, including physical, medical,
lack of self confidence, might become violent once they grow up, rebel
against all adults, refuse to take part in adult life, might end up leaving
home, etc. Even though it all over the world, we all know it has negative
consequences.
Ms Jacomy explained that it is a delicate subject to talk about, “it is easier
to talk about suffering of others than our own violence, in our own families
and communities. Many adults have been beaten, most of us have
probably experienced some form of violence, and we are not always as
non-violent as we think, but we shouldn’t feel guilty, this is where there is
an equality between children and adults, it is about fundamental human
rights”.
“My own country, France” she continued, “is responsible for the promotion
of violence through colonisation, and reasonable chastisement comes from
Anglo-Saxon colonisation, however we are here together to free our
children from this heritage. Every country now has obligations in terms of
international law, now they must apply them. It is common sense that
children should be the first ones to be protected from violence and not the
last ones”. However in terms of legislation, only 17 states in the world
have completely outlawed the use of corporal punishment in the home,
and 7 are planning to. The goal is of course not to put parents in prisons,
but to educate them and everyone else in the community that there are
other ways to discipline children.
Afternoon session
Violence in the Community, Ms. Sidibe Kadidia, International African
Committee IAC/CI-AF
Ms Kadidia’s presentation focused on violence against children based on
traditional practices, some of which are specific to certain ethnic groups.
One such practice is excision on girls; according to her, over 91 per cent of
girls in Mali are subjected to this form of violence. Excision, she explained,
used to be part of an initiation process within a community; and was
traditionally practiced on teenage girls. Now, however, this is done to
children (or babies) aged between a few months to five years. Today, this
practice has lost all its tradition and is practiced because of prejudice of
women’s sexuality, to control birth, for fidelity reasons and the amount of
money made by those undertaking the excision. The consequences are
terrible, where girls suffer from infections, hemorrhages, sometimes even
death.
Other issues relevant in this context are early and forced marriages. It is
estimated that 77 per cent of people in Mali approve of early marriages
because they believe it will preserve the virginity of the child, this relates
to honour as well; and families profit from marrying off their daughters
young. Another practice is that of stuffing young girls with food, so that
they look older and richer, hence they can be married off early. However
consequences are that these girls suffer all sorts of health problems, and
often die younger too.
Baby orphans is another issue often related to superstitious beliefs, where
babies whose mothers die giving birth to them are seen as sorcers, babies
who stole the soul of their mothers. They are then abandoned and left for
adoption, but not many people want them.
The strategies needed to deal with such issues need to be on three
levels: individual level, family level and community level. There should be
information and training campaigns at all levels; to educate people about
the consequences such practices and behaviours have on children.
Organisations must looby decision makers at the same time, and it is
essential that women and children are involved in all programmes.
Note: Information about the presentation on Domestic Violence, by Ms.
Alison Phinney, WHO Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention will
follow shortly.
During workshops that will follow, each group will receive a list of
recommendations from children and recommendations identified through
research (for the regional report, UNICEF), and will identify five of them
they think are more important and present them to the assembly.
Tomorrow morning’s session will start with two presentations on the two
remaining themes, violence in schools and institutions and violence at
work.