Save the Children report calls for eliminating corporal punishment in the home

AMMAN — Only one in seven children globally are protected by laws against corporal punishment, according to NGO Save the Children.

Common forms of violence against children range from “smacking” to more extreme abuse, the international organisation said recently on the occasion of the International Day to End Corporal Punishment.

Although the Child Rights Law, which entered into force at the beginning of this year, prohibits the corporal punishment of children inside schools in Jordan, national legislation still permits the beating of children by parents under the pretext of discipline, as stipulated in Article 62 of the Jordanian Penal Code.

The article stipulates in paragraph (A): “The law permits types of discipline that parents inflict on their children in a way that does not cause harm or harm to them, according to what is permitted by general custom,” according to a statement from the organisation.

The statement referred to a 2020 report that was prepared by the National Council for Family Affairs, which indicated that around 74 per cent of children in Jordan were subjected to physical violence as a disciplinary method.

Executive Director of Save the Children Jordan Diala Khamra stressed the importance of protecting children from corporal punishment, considering that achieving this requires providing legal protection with explicit language, according to the press statement.

 “Protecting children from all forms of violence, including disciplinary beating, is a fundamental right,” Khamra stressed.

The Save the Children official added that corporal punishment could cause major harm to “the child’s emotional behaviour and academic performance” and noted that it has an “impact on reducing the child’s self-esteem and dignity”.

Save the Children stated that despite moves in recent years to outlaw corporal punishment, only 65 countries from a total of about 199 have banned all forms of corporal punishment, including at home, according to the statement.

Corporal punishment is the physical punishment of children at the hands of parents, teachers and caregivers. Every year, thousands of children die as the result of corporal punishment, and many more are seriously injured, according to the statement.

Many forms of corporal punishment would be considered torture if they were carried out on adults. This can include the threat of violence or hitting, but can also involve kicking, shaking, burning and forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions. It also includes humiliating treatment which belittles the child, the statement added.

Save the Children calls for the universal elimination of all forms of corporal punishment by 2030, in order to meet one of the targets of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the statement added.