Progress

  • 58 states have now achieved prohibition in all settings, including the home
  • 54 more states have committed to reforming their laws to achieve a complete legal ban. We are reviewing states' commitment to prohibition - find out how you can help!
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States prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, including in the home:

2019 - Georgia, South Africa, France, Republic of Kosovo

2018 - Nepal

2017 - Lithuania

2016 - Mongolia, Montenegro, Paraguay, Slovenia

2015 - Benin, Ireland, Peru

2014 - Andorra, Estonia, Nicaragua, San Marino, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Malta

2013 - Cabo Verde, Honduras, North Macedonia

2011 - South Sudan

2010 - Albania, Congo (Republic of), Kenya, Tunisia, Poland

2008 - Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Republic of Moldova, Costa Rica

2007 - Togo, Spain, Venezuela, Uruguay, Portugal, New Zealand, Netherlands

2006 - Greece

2005 - Hungary

2004 - Romania, Ukraine

2003 - Iceland

2002 - Turkmenistan

2000 - Germany, Israel, Bulgaria

1999 - Croatia

1998 - Latvia

1997 - Denmark

1994 - Cyprus

1989 - Austria

1987 - Norway

1983 - Finland

1979 - Sweden

 

Territories prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, including in the home:

Aruba (Netherlands), Curaçao (Netherlands), Faroe Islands (Denmark), French Guiana (France), Greenland (Denmark), Guadeloupe (France), Martinique (France), Mayotte (France), Pitcairn Islands (UK), Réunion (France), St Barthelemy (France), St Maarten (Netherlands), St Martin (France), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (Norway), Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)

Delay

So long since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the law in far too many countries fails to prohibit corporal punishment of children or, worse still, it explicitly authorises its use and sets out the details of how it should be inflicted.
There is a long way to go:

  • Only 12% of the world's children are fully protected in law from all corporal punishment
  • Governments of 87 states have not yet made a public commitment to law reform
  • In 67 states, corporal punishment has not been fully prohibited in schools
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In 32 states, corporal punishment – whipping, flogging, caning – is still lawful under state, traditional and/or religious law as a sentence for crimes committed by juveniles:

Afghanistan; Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Colombia; Dominica; Ecuador; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Kiribati; Libya; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritania; Nigeria; Pakistan; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Somalia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; State of Palestine; Tonga; Tuvalu; United Arab Emirates; UR Tanzania; Vanuatu; Yemen

In 17 states, corporal punishment is not fully prohibited in any setting, including as a sentence for crime:

Barbados; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Dominica; Grenada; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritania; Nigeria; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Somalia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; State of Palestine; Tuvalu; UR Tanzania