Other early adopters include Norway, Finland, Austria and Denmark. In the s, a slew of European countries outlawed the practice, while in Israel became the first non-European state to ban smacking. In recent years, countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia have joined the growing list of nations where corporal punishment is banned. South Africa, the most recent, banned smacking in September Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer.
Home News World News. Previously, parents were allowed to smack their children anywhere on the body except the head. Shaking them or using any external instrument to hit a child were not allowed. All physical punishments in schools and other educational institutes was already banned.
Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines. Learn More. The news 1 that in April Japan has become the 59th country to ban corporal punishment in the home highlights the significant progress that is being made to ensure that children receive the same protection as adults against violence. Sweden was the first country to introduce a ban in followed mainly by countries in northern Europe.
At the shift of the millennium, still only 11 countries had introduced a ban, but since then there has been a steady increase, now with bans in all continents. To many, it seems that the time cannot come quickly enough when we shall look back on smacking children as a remnant of a bygone age as we do on capital punishment.
But to some including many in the UK, and perhaps a majority in African countries, and some parts of the USA , the very thought of a ban is anathema, conjuring up the prospects of the state in the form of police and social workers interfering with the wish of parents to bring up their children in the way that they think is right. In this article, we review the rationale for the ban and progress with the ban globally, examine the case being made in countries which oppose a ban, assess the evidence from Sweden over its effectiveness and call for renewed action to end the corporal punishment of children.
Many adults and even child professionals , on the other hand, still look on corporal punishment as a reasonable chastisement without any negative side effects. From a research point of view, there have been many difficulties in attempts to isolate corporal punishment from more severe forms of maltreatment and a number of other confounding factors. Research during the last 20 years has however shown that corporal punishment itself is associated with an increased probability of adverse physical, mental and behavioural outcomes.
Moreover, there are no studies indicating that hitting a child, as a means of discipline, is beneficial for the child. According to the Global Initiative to End all Corporal Punishment of Children, 5 there are now 59 countries which have full prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings.
Japan as mentioned above became the 59th such country in March Twenty-seven EU countries have instituted a ban which represents a large majority of the region.
Twenty-nine more countries have signified their intention to reform their laws in the same direction. The picture in the UK is interesting in that two of the devolved governments—Scotland and Wales—have legalised a ban but England and Northern Ireland have not, despite a number of attempts to pass the necessary legislation.
Five countries in Africa together with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia do not yet have full prohibition in any setting. However, there are now seven African countries that have instituted legal prohibition. Table 1 shows a timeline of the countries which have instituted a ban on corporal punishment in the home.
It is important to recognise that there are still very strongly held views supporting corporal punishment in the home and opposing a state ban, particularly among some religions and cultural groups.
Opposition to legislation is particularly strong in African countries. Sweden is the only country that has been able to follow the effect of the ban with repeated studies using the same methodology over a year period. The research has led to renewed calls for policymakers to ban such practices in both schools and the home. However, researchers say it is not clear whether bans on smacking themselves drive better behaviour, or if smacking and youth violence were already rarer in countries that have adopted the policy.
Writing in the journal BMJ Open , researchers in Canada, the US and Israel describe how they examined the results of surveys carried out in schools in 88 countries between and More than , young males and females were asked about how often they physically fought with others, with their ages ranging from 11 to 25 years depending on the survey.
The team then considered whether corporal punishment was legal in a given country, and if so, whether the ban was only in schools, or in the home as well.
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