Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment at latest session
The Committee’s 76th session was held in September 2017 and examined states’ implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Recommendations on the prohibition of corporal punishment and the implementation of existing bans were extended to all states examined:
- The Committee recommended to DPR Korea that the Government review the legislation to explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all settings, “including the home, child-related institutions and all types of penal institutions, including political prison camps”, that it ensure the implementation of the ban in schools and promote positive discipline.
- To Ecuador, the Committee expressed concern at the continued use of corporal punishment to discipline children. It recommended the expedited adoption of the draft Organic Law for a Childhood and Adolescence Free of Physical Punishment and Degrading Treatment, which would prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings.
- In its concluding observations on Tajikistan’s third/fifth report, the Committee called for the explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings, expressing concern at its continued legality in the home, in alternative and day care settings and in penal institutions.
- The Committee recommended that Vanuatu amend its legislation to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, and in particular the Family Protection Act and the Penal Code. It further recommended the proper implementation of the prohibition in schools and the creation of training programmes on positive discipline for parents, teachers and other professionals working with and for children.
To Denmark and the Republic of Moldova, where corporal punishment of children is already prohibited, the Committee recommended the adequate implementation of the prohibition, including through awareness-raising programmes, and the promotion of positive discipline.
For further details, see the Global Initiative’s individual country reports for Denmark, DPR Korea, Ecuador, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Vanuatu.
For further information on the obligation to prohibit corporal punishment under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to see the Committee’s recommendations in full, see the Global Initiative’s page on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.