Six African states have achieved prohibition of corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the family home. But only 8.5% of children in Africa are protected in law from all corporal punishment, while more than a quarter are not protected in any setting of their lives.

These facts and many more are graphically illustrated in the new version of the Global Initiative’s briefing “Prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in Africa: progress and delay”. The briefing lists some of the states in which governments are resisting reform – including the eight states where judicial corporal punishment of children is lawful, the seven states in which corporal punishment is not prohibited in any setting and the four states which have received three recommendations concerning corporal punishment from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child but have still not achieved prohibition in all settings. It summarises research which shows the appalling levels of punitive violence experienced by children in Africa. Highlighting the urgent need to take action, the briefing emphasises that there are immediate opportunities for prohibiting corporal punishment in around 40 African states.

Download Progress and Delay Africa (available in English and French)

Hard copies are available: email vohito@endcorporalpunishment.org.