The past six months have seen three Latin American states enact prohibition of all corporal punishment, bringing the number of states in the region in which children are legally protected from violent punishment in all settings of their lives to seven. Governments in at least a further six states have expressed a commitment to law reform, and many states are now reforming their laws to strengthen children’s protection from violence and recognise their right to good treatment. But much still remains to be done. Twelve states in the region have yet to prohibit all corporal punishment and almost three in five children in Latin America can still lawfully be hit and hurt by those closest to them.

In this context, the Global Initiative’s new briefing aims to promote action for prohibition across Latin America. It highlights the human rights imperative to prohibit all violent punishment of children and illustrates progress towards prohibition across the region. Emphasising that many immediate opportunities for working to fulfill children’s right to protection in law from all corporal punishment exist across the region, it underlines that now is the time to consider what can be done to speed progress towards universal prohibition and elimination across Latin America.

The briefing is available in English and Spanish.

Hard copies are available from info@endcorporalpunishment.org.