The Parliament of Greenland – a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark – has become the latest to enact legislation prohibiting all corporal punishment of children. The passage of Bill No. L 35 brings the Danish Act on Parental Responsibility 2007 into force in Greenland, with effect from April 2016. The Danish Act prohibits corporal punishment of children by all those with parental authority, stating in article 2(2):

Children have the right to care and security. Children must be treated with respect for their person and must not be exposed to corporal punishment or other humiliating treatment.”

A Bill to achieve this law reform was originally tabled in January 2015, but lapsed when elections were announced in June 2015. It was re-submitted as Bill No. L 35 on 29 October 2015 and was passed unanimously by Parliament (the Folketinget) on 19 January 2016.

This law reform makes Greenland the sixth territory worldwide to ban all corporal punishment of children and means that violent punishment of children is now unlawful throughout the Kingdom of Denmark.

Further information

• Further information on the reform in Greenland
• The latest facts and figures on global progress towards prohibition
• Table showing progress towards prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings in all states and territories worldwide