Voices of Girls and Boys to end Violence Against children in South and Central Asia

The following description of research into the experiences of corporal punishment by children in South Asia is taken from the International Save the Children Alliance's global submission to the UN Study on Violence, Ending Physical and Humiliating Punishment of Children - Making it Happen, available at: http://www.rb.se/eng/Programme/Exploitationandabuse/Corporalpunishment/1415+Publications.htm

The voices of children in South and Central Asia identify physical and degrading/humiliating punishments, both at home and school, as the most prevalent form of violence that impedes their development and overall well-being. Children in the region are physically and mentally punished for not going to school, for making a mistake or not agreeing to an adult's views, for challenging norms of tradition and culture or sometimes for no reason.

Schools, where children spend most of their developmental stage of life, have been identified by children in the region as a place where they are subjected to various forms of physical and degrading/humiliating punishments. Children have stated that these punishments affect their school performance, as their minds are dominated by the fear of punishment rather than learning.

Although children claim that teachers are responsible for violence, classmates too are responsible for perpetrating violence against their peers. Students are ridiculed by their peers for being poor, for not being teachers' favourites or for being disabled. In consultations, children from tribal and other remote areas have pointed out the 'language barrier' as an important reason for students being beaten.

In most tribal localities, children only speak their native language, whereas in schools, which are mostly state run, the teachers speak and teach only in the official state language. This creates a gap in the learning process, as a result of which children are beaten for 'not understanding what is being taught'.

"I have seen the harsh behaviour of teachers in schools and colleges. Every day there are severe punishments by teachers, so we remain very afraid in class. The teacher often makes a student stand up in class, scolds him with ugly words and teases him for being naughty or for not learning the lessons. It is very shameful as well as painful. I thought it would end in school, but it prevails in college. These are problems of students." A 17-year-old boy in Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

"The teacher at the school humiliated me. This made me reluctant to go to school. I bunked one or two classes. Once a few of us could not answer a question. The girls were given punishment of sit-ups while a girl was made to slap me in front of everybody. I was ashamed and vowed not to go to school again." A school drop-out boy in India (Save the Children, UNICEF, Plan India, World Vision, IGSSS and CRS

Despite violence being accepted as a 'disciplinary norm' in many parts of the region, girls and boys have, during consultations and researches, raised their voices against the perpetrators of violence inside their own homes and community. They identify their fathers (alcoholics in many instances), mothers, elders and close relatives as the perpetrators, with forms of violence ranging from physical and verbal abuse, to sexual abuse at times.

"I get scared when my father drinks and comes home. He beats me and my mother."
A child living in a pavement in India (CWC, India, 1998)

"I cannot play because my mother works and I have to look after her children, otherwise she hits me with a stick." A 13-year-old girl in Logar, Afghanistan (Save the Children, Afghanistan, 2001)

Boys and girls in the region have also found themselves more vulnerable to violence when they are compelled to live with step-parents, whether a stepfather or stepmother. Children are also physically and mentally abused by immediate family members, like uncles.

"Our stepmother tortured us a lot. My elder brother couldn't tolerate her torture and so he ran away. My father beats us frequently and because of this my stepmother left the house and took up a job in a garment factory. I also left the house and got a job at a shop." A boy from Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

"I have lived in a cellar for four years. My mother died and my father had a new girl friend and they threw me out. If I went home they beat me." A 16-year-old street boy in Tashkent, Central Asia (Save the Children, 2002)

Apart from physical punishment, verbal abuse of children is very common. This may be the use of filthy words, name-calling or scolding by adults, including family members at home, neighbours, employers and teachers. Children said that this hampered their self-esteem beyond repair, making them ashamed of themselves.

"My parents used to think that I was their property. They used to abuse me, using words which I cannot repeat without making me cry." A 13 year-old girl from Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

"Children are always under mental pressure. When I wake up in the morning, I try to guess how many scoldings I will get during the day for no reason. I am becoming afraid of myself." A child from Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

For many people, punishment of children is a deeply personal issue, especially since most were hit as children by their parents. They do not like to think badly of their parents or their parenting. This makes it difficult for many people to accept the human rights imperative for challenging and ending all physical and degrading/humiliating punishment. Homes and schools look on physical punishment as normal and natural, a view that some children have internalized to the extent that they believe it is a justified consequence of their own transgressions.

"Physical punishment is not violence but a way of educating children and making them become adults. Physical punishment is necessary for children." A 14-year-old boy in Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

"As a punishment for not doing homework the teacher used to let them go if they agreed to kiss him on the cheek or he made them kiss a friend of the opposite sex. He made them sit on his lap if they asked him to return their notebooks." Private school girls, aged 8 - 10 years in Kathmandu, Nepal (Save the Children Norway/CWIN, Nepal, 2003)

Differently-abled children have also experienced physical and degrading/humiliating punishments, not only from people in the community but also from their peers. In schools, children with disabilities are subjected to verbal abuse and discrimination, not only from their classmates but also from their teachers.

"Because of my disability with my right hand, it takes me one hour to write what the other children can write in 20 minutes. My teacher never considers this as a disadvantage and she gives me the same time as my classmate for completing the exams." A 14-year-old student in Bangladesh (UNICEF, 2003)

Neha Bhandari with Fahmida Jabeen and Manoj Karki (n.d.), Voices of Girls and Boys to end Violence Against children in South and Central Asia, Save the Children, reported in International Save the Children Alliance, 2005, Ending Physical and Humiliating Punishment of Children - Making it Happen: Global Submission to the UN Study on Violence against Children, Save the Children Sweden)
International Save the Children report available at: http://www.rb.se/eng/Programme/Exploitationandabuse/Corporalpunishment/1415+Publications.htm

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