Submitted by crinadmin on
On Wednesday 26th July, Save the Children Fiji launched its report The Physical and Emotional Punishment of Children in Fiji to begin a 3 year public awareness campaign to reduce the physical and emotional punishment of children in Fiji. The report and campaign are part of Save the Children Fiji’s initiative to participate in a Regional Comparative Study on the Physical and Emotional Punishment of Children initiated by Save the Children as part of an overall strategic intervention to promote the abolition of corporal punishment of children in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Although Fiji ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, the rise in acts of violence towards children is cause for concern. The report indicates that children continue to experience physical and emotional punishment as a form of discipline. Promoting the abolition of corporal punishment has been a priority for Save the Children globally since 2000. However, the East Asia andf Pacific region only embarked on tackling the issue in 2003 when a meeting of Save the Children country programmes was convened with representation from programmes including Save the Children Korea, Save Australia and New Zealand and Fiji to review the situation of corporal punishment in the South East Asia Pacific Region and to map out some direction and develop a strategic approach to address the issue. One of the major gaps identified was the lack of reliable information including information from children themselves. There is a definite need for reliable rights-based data including from children themselves to support a commitment to fulfilling the human rights of children and knowledge about the impact of corporal punishment on individual children as well as on social harmony. Rights-based data must form the basis of direct rights-based programme intervention that aim to address the issue effectively and protect the children of Fiji, and to promote the development and provision of adequate legislation and policies. The report aims to enhance the national understanding of physical and emotional punishment of children and its effects from the perspective of participants in the study. In doing so, it hopes to create awareness and promote positive education and discipline for children, based on the rights of a child to enjoy healthy development and not suffer any form of violence. It is anticipated that the report will also influence the design of future policies and interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of physical and emotional punishment of children in Fiji. The launch followed a recent training programme by Save the Children Fiji in June, which intended to raise awareness amongst professionals working with children and families about the effects of physical and psychological punishment on children and the need to end such punishment. The first of a series of workshops to promote Non-Violent Discipline was facilitated by the SC Sweden SEAP Regional Advisor on the Prevention of Child Abuse and Exploitation, Dominique Pierre Plateau. Further information
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/save_fiji_phys_em_pun.pdf