Ending corporal punishment of children in Swaziland

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2. DEFINITION OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENTAND OTHER FORMS OF HUMILIATING ANDDEGRADING PUNISHMENT OF CHILDRENSave the Children identifies two categories of punishment of children that canoccur separately or together, i.e. corporal or physical punishment, and humiliatingor degrading punishment. Both forms of punishment constitute violations ofchildren’s rights.Corporal or physical punishment of children and the threat of it includes hittingthe child with the hand or with an object (such as a cane, belt, whip, shoe, etc.);kicking, shaking, or throwing the child; pinching or pulling their hair; forcing achild to stay in uncomfortable or undignified positions, or to take excessive physicalexercise; and burning or scarring the child.“I wanted to go to church. They hit me with a knobkerrie, and said Ishould take the goats to the mountain. I ran away.” 3Boy, 9-12-year age groupHumiliating or degrading punishment of children takes various forms, such aspsychological punishment, verbal abuse, ridicule, isolation, or ignoring the child.“I spilt my mom’s water in the refrigerator.She shouted at me and said I was not going to sleep in her home.” 4Girl, 6-8-year age groupIt is important to note that there is no clear line between corporal punishmentand humiliating or degrading punishment. Very often children perceive corporalpunishment as also being humiliating or degrading.“Did not come to school, as I had attended Tibiyo Bursary interviews;so I was beaten six times on the buttocks. I felt depressed, humiliated,punished for no good reason.” 5Boy, 13-18- year age groupNon-corporal forms of punishment, such as making children do heavy physicallabour or staying in degrading or uncomfortable positions, also constitutecorporal punishment.A range of different words are used to describe the use of physical force againstchildren. Common examples are hitting, slapping or smacking, ‘a good beating’, ‘sixof the best’, a thrashing, or ‘a good hiding’.Very often adults are making statements such as, “I just gave my child a light smack.That is not child abuse, because I know what is best for my child. I only wanted to6
correct his/her behaviour”. All forms of corporal punishment of children, howeverlight, constitute violence against the child. Corporal punishment is one form ofviolence against children, or child abuse. It is not a separate method of disciplineused by parents, teachers or other care givers as they see fit.While corporal punishment is more visible, emotional punishment in the form ofhumiliating or degrading treatment is more difficult to identify and confront as formsof child abuse. Disciplining a child by sending him or her outside to stand in thesun for hours, to undermine a child’s self-esteem or to deny a child food or clothingis as damaging as different forms of corporal punishment.7
Page 1 and 2: Ending CorporalPunishment of Childr
Page 3: Ending CorporalPunishment of Childr
Page 6 and 7: ABBREVIATIONSACRWCCBOCRCNGOUNAfrica
Page 10 and 11: 3. WHY IS CORPORAL AND HUMILIATINGP
Page 12 and 13: 4. HOW COMMON IS CORPORAL ANDHUMILI
Page 14 and 15: 5. CHILDREN’S VIEWS OF CORPORAL P
Page 16 and 17: “I was not able to count and I wa
Page 18 and 19: non-violent disciplinary measures i
Page 20 and 21: 6. SWAZILAND’S INTERNATIONAL OBLI
Page 22 and 23: 7. SWAZILAND‘S NATIONAL LAWSIn Sw
Page 24 and 25: 8. FREQUENTLY USED ARGUMENTS JUSTIF
Page 26 and 27: children, the smallest and most vul
Page 28 and 29: Banning corporal punishment will ju
Page 30 and 31: individual child. Below are a few g
Page 32 and 33: easons for the continued use of cor
Page 34 and 35: ResearchNational surveys comprising
Page 36 and 37: END NOTES1 Clacherty, G., Donald, D

Ending corporal punishment of children in Swaziland

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?