Consultation on the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill
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Tystiolaeth i’r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar gyfer craffu Cyfnod 1 Bil Plant (Diddymu Amddiffyniad Cosb Resymol) (Cymru) |
Evidence submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for Stage 1 scrutiny of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill |
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CADRP-519 |
CADRP-519 |
About you
Organisation: Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
— Yes
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The Global Initiative supports the Bill and its principles for the following reasons:
1. Corporal punishment is the most common form of violence against children. Prohibiting and eliminating all forms of corporal punishment of children is an obligation of the Welsh Government under international human rights law, as physical punishment of children breaches their rights to respect for human dignity and physical integrity and to equal protection under the law. Under articles 19 and 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, states have an obligation to protect children from “all forms of physical or mental violence” and “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, including “while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child”. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has published a document highlighting the immediate obligation on states parties to explicitly prohibit all physical punishment of children, including within the home, through law reform (General Comment No. 8 on “The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment”). Other human rights treaties have put the same obligation on states, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the UN Convention Against Torture.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has made it clear that all physical punishment, however light, constitutes violence against children. The Committee has specifically addressed the issue of “reasonable punishment”, emphasising that the Convention requires the removal of any such provisions, in statute or common law. Because legal defences allowing “reasonable” or “justifiable” physical punishment of children still exist in the United Kingdom, including in Wales, it has repeatedly been found in breach of its obligations under international and regional human rights treaties to prohibit all physical punishment of children. Most recently, in its 2016 Concluding observations on the UK’s fifth periodic report, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called for the prohibition of all physical punishment in the family, “including through the repeal of all legal defences”, in “all devolved administrations, Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies”. This same recommendation to prohibit all physical punishment of children has previously been extended to the UK a total of twenty times by four other UN treaty bodies as well as by the European Committee of Social Rights, and the continued legality of corporal punishment of children has been raised in each cycle of the UK’s Universal Periodic Review.
2. In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, the elimination of corporal punishment of children is to the forefront as one of the indicators (16.2.1) of Target 16.2 – ending “abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children”. Enacting this Bill to repeal the defence of ‘reasonable’ punishment and prohibit all forms of physical punishment of children will enshrine in Welsh legislation children’s right to a life free from violence, which is also in line with stated policy priorities (Taking Wales Forward and Prosperity for All).
3. Adopting a legal ban of corporal punishment raises children’s status in society and strengthens child protection systems by sending out a clear message that all forms of violence against children are prohibited. This provides clarity to service providers and a strong basis for any positive parenting programme or awareness-raising campaign. Physical punishment is a central factor in child protection: most child abuse is an iteration of violent discipline and any form of violence – including “mild” physical punishment – carries an inherent risk of escalation. The continued legality of ‘reasonable punishment’ implies that a certain level of violence against children is acceptable – a blanket ban of all physical punishment of children will provide clearer, simpler legislation and better child protection practices.
4. The Global Initiative does not agree with the conclusions of the report of the Public Policy Institute for Wales that “the evidence does not definitively show that “reasonable” parental physical punishment causes negative outcomes”. A large body of research has shown that corporal punishment is ineffective at best and harmful at worst. So-called ‘reasonable’ physical punishment has been the subject of many carefully designed peer reviewed research studies which have overwhelmingly found that smacking risks short and long-term damage to children and has strong associations with violence in later life, including domestic and sexual violence, criminality and mental and physical ill health (http://endcorporalpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/research/Research-effects-summary-2016-06.pdf). Enacting this ban will have positive effects on Welsh society, first and foremost in reducing violence against children. Contrary to some claims, there is no evidence of increased prosecution of parents from the growing number of countries where corporal punishment is criminalised, and as highlighted by the explanatory memorandum, a recent study found links between a ban of corporal punishment and reducing inter-personal violence amongst adolescents. A ban, by minimising numbers of children exposed to physical punishment, would in the long term also indirectly reduce violence levels in Welsh society.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
We believe that this prohibition of all corporal punishment of children must be enacted in legislation for the following reasons:
1. Enacting prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in legislation is an obligation of the Welsh Government under international and regional law. It is also a best practice. Experience from the 54 states which have to date prohibited all corporal punishment of children has shown that public education campaigns alone were not enough to significantly reduce use of corporal punishment in childrearing. This has been corroborated by a study carried out in 2007 which compared three states which had enacted a ban to two states which had not. The study found that nearly all forms of corporal punishment were used significantly less in countries which had prohibited than in those where corporal punishment was still lawful. The study concluded that that “there can no longer be any doubt about the violence-reducing effect of a ban on childrearing violence”. Similarly, a 2002 study of countries which had prohibited corporal punishment at the time found that public education which is not underpinned by legal reform has limited success, but public education coupled with law reform can lead to significant shifts in attitudes and behaviours (http://endcorporalpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/research/Summary-of-research-impact-of-prohibition.pdf).
2. Under current legislation, children do not benefit from the same level of legal protection from assault that adults do. The ‘reasonable punishment’ defence provides a legal loophole which solely applies to assaults on children. This legal discrimination must be redressed in legislation, through the explicit legal repeal of the defence. Current legislation also protects children differently depending on their family situation: as corporal punishment is prohibited in foster care arranged by local authorities or voluntary organisations but parental corporal punishment is not, children living in the same family unit benefit from different levels of protection from corporal punishment. The children fostered by the family are protected from corporal punishment whilst the biological children are not.
3. Because of the range of negative outcomes for children experiencing corporal punishment, prohibiting its use is a public health issue. On the same level as prohibiting smoking in public places or making the wearing of a seat belt mandatory, matters of public health should be regulated in legislation. Governments must lead in regulating harmful behaviours.
4. Enacting this ban will send a clear message to parents, service providers and the general public that no form of corporal punishment is allowed, providing a strong basis for awareness-raising and positive parenting campaigns. It will also allow for absolute clarity for professionals working with families who will be able to relay this simple message to the parents and children they work with.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
1. We do not foresee any significant barriers to the implementation of the Bill. We recognise that implementation measures must be taken in the run-up to and after the commencement of the Act and welcome the Welsh Government’s preparatory work laid out in the explanatory memorandum, including plans for an awareness-raising campaign, an Implementation Group and monitoring progress.
2. It will be particularly important to provide parents and others with alternative and non-violent methods of childrearing. We emphasise that these must be communicated to the entire population, paying particular attention to the populations who are harder-to-reach due to resources, language or other factors. The existing programmes are to be commended and should be extended to ensure a wider reach.
3. We emphasise that it is not necessary, in our view, to have a long delay between the adoption of the Act and its entry into force. We welcome the plans to conduct an awareness-raising campaign and believe that this should take place as soon as possible after the adoption of the Bill and at least up until it comes into force.
4. The Welsh Government must guarantee children’s right to be heard and ensure to collect their views in the lead-in to implementing a ban, including in designing the awareness-raising campaign.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
We do not believe that the detail of the implementation of the Bill should be included within the text of the Bill itself, as it is a regulatory matter. The Bill’s aim is to reform the legislation. We welcome the thought which has gone into the question of implementation, as laid out in the explanatory memorandum.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
We do not believe there will be any unintended consequences arising from the Bill. This Bill will help raise children’s status and ensure they benefit from the same legal protection from violence as adults.
Experience from the states which have prohibited has found that claims that a ban on corporal punishment will ‘criminalise’ parents are unfounded. In Sweden for example, where all physical punishment was prohibited in 1979, a 2000 study found that the ban had increased the opportunities for early identification of children at risk – reporting of assaults against children rose between 1981 and 1996, in line with expectations of a reduced tolerance of violence against children following the ban. The vast majority of reported assaults were in the most minor assault category, suggesting that children at risk of violence were being identified before serious injury occurred. The study also found that social care interventions were increasingly supportive of families, with the proportion of interventions involving out-of-home care decreasing by a third. It also found a decrease in the number of 15-17 year olds involved in various types of crime, including theft, narcotics crimes, assaults against young children and rape, between 1983 and 1996 and a decrease in suicide and use of alcohol and drugs by young people between 1971 and 1997 (Durrant, J. (2000), A Generation Without Smacking: the impact of Sweden’s ban on physical punishment, Save the Children). The aim of this legislation is not to lead to increased prosecution of parents, but to recognise children’s equal status as individual rights holders. The first purpose of law reform is educational – to send a clear message into the privacy of the home that it is no more acceptable or lawful to hit a child than to hit anyone else.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The assessment of financial implications of the Bill in the explanatory memorandum seems comprehensive in terms of expenses. We would like to point out that no financial assessment has been published in relation to the potential savings which would result from enacting this prohibition of corporal punishment of children. As research shows, corporal punishment is linked with a range of negative outcomes, in terms of physical and mental health, developmental outcomes and long-term anti-social and/or violent behaviour. Responding to these negative outcomes involves service-delivery costs which would be reduced by lower levels of prevalence of corporal punishment.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The Global Initiative welcomes this Bill which would bring Wales in alignment with its international obligations and ensure that children in Wales benefit from the same level of legal protection from assault as adults. Research has shown that enacting a legal ban of corporal punishment has a positive impact on the prevalence of corporal punishment as well as in reducing wider instances of violence in society. This will bring Wales closer to its stated policy goals of sustainable and fair development.
The question of the definition of corporal punishment has been raised in dialogues around the Bill. We highlight that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child defines corporal or physical punishment as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light”. We agree that it would be unproductive to provide an exhaustive list of behaviours falling under the remit of the Bill, particularly with the understanding that other actions necessary in raising a child, such as protective actions, will continue to be legal under existing principles of common law. We welcome the clarity brought by the Bill and call on the Government and the National Assembly to enact and implement this Bill as a matter of urgency.
The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (https://endcorporalpunishment.org/) works with governments and others towards universal prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment. Its aims are supported by UNICEF, UNESCO and many international and national organisations, and its information is regularly relied on by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and other treaty monitoring bodies.