Review of states committed to prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings – Czech Republic and Switzerland added to list of committed states
All states have a human rights, ethical and development obligation to prohibit and eliminate all forms of corporal punishment of children. Some states are leading the way, having already enacted prohibition of all corporal punishment and working hard to implement it fully domestically and to promote it globally. Some are actively working towards law reform. But others still need to intensify their efforts to achieve prohibition in legislation and fulfill children’s right to protection from all corporal punishment.
Among the states which have not yet enacted a ban, End Corporal Punishment monitors those which express a commitment to enacting legislation prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, however light, in all settings including the home.
Based on our list of criteria to confirm states’ commitment, we recently conducted an in-depth review of states committed to prohibition of corporal punishment. To do this, we also used states’ support or rejection of recommendations to prohibit all corporal punishment made during the state’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
We now have 26 states committed to prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings.
We notably welcome the Czech Republic and Switzerland to the list of committed states. This is because both states accepted recommendations to prohibit and are currently reforming their laws to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings.
Three states have lost their committed status in the updated list, because of their lack of progress on the commitments they made years ago. These states are Chile, Ghana and Myanmar.
The First Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children will include an opportunity for states to make bold new commitments to end violence against children. We urge all states that have not yet prohibited all corporal punishment to commit to upholding this fundamental right and protection for children by pledging to enact law reform and effective implementation in the near term.
With six years left to realise the Agenda for Sustainable Development, states must take concrete and immediate action to protect children from all forms of violence without delay.
New list of committed states (26):
Armenia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Panama, Philippines, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
As always, we welcome any new evidence of commitment on those and any other states.
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