Six years after the launch of the UN Global Study on violence against

children, child rights experts reviewed the global progress in prohibiting

corporal punishment of children, and analysed the remaining challenges in
fully respecting their dignity and physical integrity.

“Violence against children, including corporal punishment, is a violation of

the rights of the child. It conflicts with the child’s human dignity and the right
of the child to physical integrity. It also prevents children from reaching their
full potential, by putting at risk their right to health, survival and
development. The best interests of the child can never be used to justify
such practice,” said UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Kyung-wha Kang. “The need to promote non-violent values and
awareness-raising among all those working with children is essential if we
want this situation to come to an end.”

Kang was speaking at a side event of the current session of the Universal
Periodic Review in Geneva, co-organized by the Permanent Missions of
Finland, Tunisia, Uruguay and a number of civil society organizations.
Experts noted that corporal punishment was one of the issues raised during
the examination of many States, adding that more than 80 had
subsequently accepted recommendations to prohibit it.

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the Independent Expert appointed by the UN

Secretary-General to lead the UN Study on Violence against Children,
acknowledged progress however stressing that such advancements were
made mainly outside the family setting.

“Only five per cent of the children of the world live in States which have
extended the prohibition of assault to protect children from being hit in their
homes and families and all other settings in their lives,” he said. “Most of
the world’s children can still be assaulted with impunity by those who
purport to love and care for them.”

A UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, which spanned five years from
2005-2010, revealed that in selected countries in Eastern and Central
Europe and Central Asia alone, more than 50 per cent of boys and girls
aged 2-14 had been subjected to psychological or physical punishment by
their parents or other adults of the household. These numbers were higher
among most vulnerable groups such as the Roma and children with
disabilities.

Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary General on

Violence against Children, stressed that corporal punishment can be
prevented. "By supporting caregivers in the use of non-violent child rearing
practices; by promoting advocacy and social mobilisation to safeguard
children's dignity and physical integrity; by reforming laws to introduce a
clear ban of all forms of violence including corporal punishment, we can
make a real difference in the life of children, all children, everywhere and at
all times," she said.

The Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Jean Zermatten,
noted that only 33 States had prohibited corporal punishment in all settings
of children’s lives, leaving millions of children unprotected against socially
accepted violence disguised as discipline.

“For the Committee, there is no doubt that corporal punishment is a

violation of children’s rights under the Convention of the Rights of the Child
because it is constitutive of violence that causes physical, mental or sexual
harm or suffering,” Zermatten said. “It violates children’s human dignity and
inalienable human rights, and it negatively impacts on the enjoyment of
many other rights and aspects of children’s development including their
psychological, health, education and social status.”

Peter Newell, the Coordinator of the Global Initiative to End all Corporal
Punishment of Children, revealed that the countries which had banned the
practice did so “on the basis of their human rights obligations, supported by
the very strong research evidence of the damage that violent punishment
does to children and societies.”

Key facts
 Corporal or physical punishment is highly prevalent globally, both in
homes and schools. Around 60% of children aged 2–14 years regularly
suffer physical punishment by their parents or other caregivers. In some
countries, almost all students report being physically punished by
school staff. The risk of being physically punished is similar for boys
and girls, and for children from wealthy and poor households.
 Evidence shows corporal punishment increases children’s behavioural
problems over time and has no positive outcomes.
 All corporal punishment, however mild or light, carries an inbuilt risk of
escalation. Studies suggest that parents who used corporal punishment
are at heightened risk of perpetrating severe maltreatment.
 Corporal punishment is linked to a range of negative outcomes for
children across countries and cultures, including physical and mental
 ill-health, impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development, poor
educational outcomes, increased aggression and perpetration of
violence.
 Corporal punishment is a violation of children’s rights to respect for
physical integrity and human dignity, health, development, education
and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.
 The elimination of violence against children is called for in several
targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development but most
explicitly in Target 16.2: “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all
forms of violence against and torture of children”.
 Corporal punishment and the associated harms are preventable through
multisectoral and multifaceted approaches, including law reform,
changing harmful norms around child rearing and punishment, parent
and caregiver support, and school-based programming.

Overview
Corporal or physical punishment is defined by the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child, which oversees the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as “any
punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of
pain or discomfort, however light.”

According to the Committee, this mostly involves hitting (smacking, slapping,

spanking) children with a hand or implement (whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon
or similar) but it can also involve, for example, kicking, shaking or throwing children,
scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing ears, forcing children to stay in
uncomfortable positions, burning, scalding or forced ingestion.

Other non-physical forms of punishment can be cruel and degrading, and thus also
incompatible with the Convention, and often accompany and overlap with physical
punishment. These include punishments which belittle, humiliate, denigrate,
scapegoat, threaten, scare or ridicule the child.

Scope
UNICEF’s data from nationally representative surveys in 56 countries 2005–2013
show that approximately 6 out of 10 children aged 2–14 years experienced corporal
punishment by adults in their households in the past month. On average, 17% of
children experienced severe physical punishment (being hit on the head, face or
ears or hit hard and repeatedly) but in some countries this figure exceeds 40%.
Large variations across countries and regions show the potential for prevention.

Apart from some countries where rates among boys are higher, results from
comparable surveys show that the prevalence of corporal punishment is similar for
girls and boys. Young children (aged 2–4 years) are as likely, and in some countries
more likely, as older children (aged 5–14 years) to be exposed to physical
punishment, including harsh forms. Physical disciplinary methods are used even with
very young children – comparable surveys conducted in 29 countries 2012–2016
show that 3 in 10 children aged 12–23 months are subjected to spanking.

Most children are exposed to both psychological and physical means of punishment.
Many parents and caregivers report using non-violent disciplines measures (such as
explaining why the child’s behaviour was wrong, taking away privileges) but these
are usually used in combination with violent methods. Children who experience only
non-violent forms of discipline are in the minority.

One in 2 children aged 6–17 years (732 million) live in countries where corporal
punishment at school is not fully prohibited. Studies have shown that lifetime
prevalence of school corporal punishment was above 70% in Africa and Central
America, past-year prevalence was above 60% in the WHO Regions of Eastern
Mediterranean and South-East Asia, and past-week prevalence was above 40% in
Africa and South-East Asia. Lower rates were found in the WHO Western Pacific
Region, with lifetime and past year prevalence around 25%. Physical punishment
appeared to be highly prevalent at both primary and secondary school levels.

Consequences
Corporal punishment triggers harmful psychological and physiological responses.
Children not only experience pain, sadness, fear, anger, shame and guilt, but feeling
threatened also leads to physiological stress and the activation of neural pathways
that support dealing with danger. Children who have been physically punished tend
to exhibit high hormonal reactivity to stress, overloaded biological systems, including
the nervous, cardiovascular and nutritional systems, and changes in brain structure
and function.

Despite its widespread acceptability, spanking is also linked to atypical brain function
like that of more severe abuse, thereby undermining the frequently cited argument
that less severe forms of physical punishment are not harmful.

A large body of research shows links between corporal punishment and a wide
range of negative outcomes, both immediate and long-term:

 direct physical harm, sometimes resulting in severe damage, long-term

disability or death;
 mental ill-health, including behavioural and anxiety disorders, depression,
hopelessness, low self-esteem, self-harm and suicide attempts, alcohol and
drug dependency, hostility and emotional instability, which continue into
adulthood;
 impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development, specifically emotion
regulation and conflict solving skills;
 damage to education, including school dropout and lower academic and
occupational success;
 poor moral internalization and increased antisocial behaviour;
 increased aggression in children;
 adult perpetration of violent, antisocial and criminal behaviour;
  indirect physical harm due to overloaded biological systems, including
developing cancer, alcohol-related problems, migraine, cardiovascular
disease, arthritis and obesity that continue into adulthood;
 increased acceptance and use of other forms of violence; and
 damaged family relationships.

There is some evidence of a dose–response relationship, with studies finding that

the association with child aggression and lower achievement in mathematics and
reading ability became stronger as the frequency of corporal punishment increased.

Risk factors
There are few differences in prevalence of corporal punishment by sex or age,
although in some places boys and younger children are more at risk. Children with
disabilities are more likely to be physically punished than those without disabilities.
Parents who were physically punished as children are more likely to physically
punish their own children.

In most of the countries with data, children from wealthier households are equally
likely to experience violent discipline as those from poorer households. In contrast, in
some resource-poor settings, especially where education systems have undergone
rapid expansion, the strain on teachers resulting from the limited human and physical
resources may lead to a greater use of corporal punishment in the classroom.

Prevention and response

The INSPIRE technical package presents several effective and promising
interventions, including:

 Implementation and enforcement of laws to prohibit physical punishment.

Such laws ensure children are equally protected under the law on assault as
adults and serve an educational rather than punitive function, aiming to
increase awareness, shift attitudes towards non-violent childrearing and clarify
the responsibilities of parents in their caregiving role.
 Norms and values programmes to transform harmful social norms around
child-rearing and child discipline.
 Parent and caregiver support through information and skill-building sessions
to develop nurturing, non-violent parenting.
 Education and life skills interventions to build a positive school climate and
violence-free environment, and strengthening relationships between students,
teachers and administrators.
 Response and support services for early recognition and care of child victims
and families to help reduce reoccurrence of violent discipline and lessen its
consequences.

The earlier such interventions occur in children's lives, the greater the benefits to the
child (e.g., cognitive development, behavioural and social competence, educational
attainment) and to society (e.g., reduced delinquency and crime).
WHO Response
WHO addresses corporal punishment in multiple cross-cutting ways. In collaboration
with partners, WHO provides guidance and technical support for evidence-based
prevention and response. Work on several strategies from the INSPIRE technical
package, including those on legislation, norms and values, parenting, and school-
based violence prevention, contribute to preventing physical punishment. The Global
status report on violence against children 2020 monitors countries’ progress in
implementing legislation and programmes that help reduce it. WHO also advocates
for increased international support for and investment in these evidence-based
prevention and response efforts.