Progress
- 59 states have full prohibition of corporal punishment
- 29 more states have committed to reforming their laws to achieve a complete legal ban - find out more
States prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, including in the home:
2020 - Japan
2019 - Georgia, South Africa, France, Republic of Kosovo
2018 - Nepal
2017 - Lithuania
2016 - Mongolia, Montenegro, Paraguay, Slovenia
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
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), Jersey (UK), 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 13% of the world's children are fully protected in law from all corporal punishment
- Governments of 111 states are not currently committed to law reform
- In 67 states, corporal punishment has not been fully prohibited in schools
In 16 states, corporal punishment is not fully prohibited in any setting, including as a sentence for crime:
Barbados; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Dominica; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritania; Nigeria; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Somalia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; State of Palestine; Tuvalu; UR Tanzania
In 31 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; 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