CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: Towards the Universal Prohibition of All Violent Punishment of Children

Save the Children has published its Report of the first global workshop on “Prohibiting all corporal punishment and other humiliating punishment of children: Achieving legal reform”, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2008.

Corporal punishment is one of the most pervasive forms of violence against children throughout the world. Its legality in homes, schools and justice and care settings underpins its continued use and provides a basis for the belief that it is somehow morally “right” and “justifiable”. But among the international bodies charged with monitoring countries’ compliance with their human rights obligations, led by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, there is consensus that children have a right to the same legal protection from assault that is given to adults. This means that corporal punishment of children must be prohibited by law in all settings and by all adults, including by parents within the family home.

In May 2008, Save the Children, in collaboration with the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children and the Churches’ Network for Non-Violence, held the first global workshop on achieving legal reform to prohibit corporal punishment and other degrading and humiliating punishment of children. Child rights advocates from almost 30 countries met to grapple with the issues: understanding the absolute necessity of law reform, identifying precisely what is needed in the countries in which they work, and learning from experiences in countries which have successfully achieved full prohibition.

This report – “Towards the universal prohibition of all violent punishment of children” – documents the information exchanged during the workshop and provides an important resource for all those working to achieve law reform. Synthesizing the presentations made by the key speakers with the issues raised in discussion and the experiences brought to the workshop by the participants, the report includes sections on:

  • the elements of legal reform and details of global progress to date
  • how to get laws into and through parliament, with examples of the experiences in New Zealand, Costa Rica, the Philippines and Romania
  • how to engage children in the law reform process, including examples from Venezuela, Kenya and South Africa
  • progress in gaining faith-based support for prohibition
  • implementation of prohibition in the home and other settings, with examples from Sweden, New Zealand, South Africa and Romania
  • the use of legal action and regional and international human rights mechanisms
  • national lobbying to promote prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment

The report also includes answers to frequently asked questions about prohibition, an analysis of the legality of corporal punishment in all settings, in all countries, a regional analysis of ratification of international and regional complaints/communications mechanisms, and information on useful resources.

Download the full report here
Please note that this is a very large file (3 MB, 167 pages), and will take a long time to download over slow, dial-up connections.

Click below: individual chapters (smaller files)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Reforming the law
Chapter 3: Getting laws into and through parliament
Chapter 4: Child participation in law reform
Chapter 5: Global progress in gaining faith-based support for law reform
Chapter 6: Implementation of prohibition in the home and other settings
Chapter 7: The use of legal action and regional and international human rights mechanisms
Chapter 8: National lobbying to promote prohibition and elimination of all corporal punishment
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Annexes

For further information contact: Dominique Pierre Plateau (SCS SEAP)dominique.pierre.plateau@seap.savethechildren.se or

David Ruiz Coronado (SCS Head Office) at: david.ruiz.coronado@rb.se 

 

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Save_Sweden_Universal_Proh.pdf

Countries

    Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.