The Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its concluding observations on states examined at its 72nd session held in May/June 2016, which include strong recommendations to prohibit and eliminate all corporal punishment of children.

• To Bulgaria, the Committee urged the Government to ensure that the prohibition of corporal punishment is adequately monitored and enforced in all settings, and to promote positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline through awareness campaigns.
• To Gabon, the Committee expressed serious concern that corporal punishment of children is not prohibited in all settings; it urged prohibition in all settings including the home and alternative and day care settings, and the promotion of positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline among parents and day care personnel.
• To Nepal, the Committee recommended express legal prohibition of corporal punishment and ill-treatment of children in the family, schools and other institutions; expedition of the process of amending the relevant provision of the Children’s Act and the 1963 Muluki Ain to ensure compliance with article 19 of the Convention; awareness-raising on the negative impact of corporal punishment and ill-treatment on children; and ensuring the administration of positive, participatory, non-violent forms of discipline.
• To Pakistan, the Committee recommended prohibition of all corporal punishment, particularly exempting all children below the age of 18 years from punishment under Shariah Law for Hadood offences which involve amputation, whipping, stoning and other forms of torture and cruel and degrading punishment; it also recommended awareness-raising campaigns on the harmful effect of corporal punishment and the promotion of positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline.
• To Samoa, the Committee recommended explicit prohibition of all forms of corporal punishment in all settings including the home, community, schools and justice system without any exception, as well as awareness-raising programmes, trainings and other activities to promote a change of mind-set with regard to corporal punishment.
• To Slovakia, the Committee expressed deep regret that the 2005 Family Code tolerates the use of “reasonable physical punishment” in the raising of children in families and urged the Government to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in the home without further delay.
• To the UK, the Committee urged the Government to prohibit all corporal punishment including in the family, all schools and educational institutions and all other institutions and forms of alternative care, and to strengthen the promotion of positive, non-violent forms of discipline with a view to eliminating the general acceptance of the use of corporal punishment in child-rearing.

For further details, see the Global Initiative’s individual country reports for Bulgaria, Gabon, Nepal, Pakistan, Samoa, Slovakia and the UK.

The Committee’s recommendations can also be seen in full on the Committee on the Rights of the Child page on this website.