Venezuela

(17 October 2007, CRC/C/VEN/CO/2, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 53, 54 and 55)

"With reference to the United Nations Secretary-General’s study on violence against children, the Committee recommends that the State party:

a) take all necessary measures to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Study on violence against children (A/61/299), taking into account the outcome and recommendations of the Regional Consultation for Latin America held in Argentina between 30 May and 1 June 2005. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party pay particular attention to the following recommendations:

(i) Prohibit all violence against children, including corporal punishment in all places….

"The Committee welcomes the information provided by the delegation that corporal punishment will be prohibited but is concerned that corporal punishment is still lawful. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that  abuse and ill treatment of children are underreported.

"The Committee urges the State party to adopt and implement new laws explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, including in the home, to conduct awareness-raising and public education campaigns against corporal punishment, and to promote non-violent, participatory methods of childrearing and education while taking due account of the Committee’s General Comment No. 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment (2006) as well as the recommendation in the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children that all corporal punishment of children be prohibited by 2009."