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Who Are The Most Vulnerable?
Wherever there is cultural and social acceptability of disciplinary physical punishment, there are certain groups of children who are more exposed to it.
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In most countries where the roles of girls and boys are already culturally defined, boys are more exposed to corporal punishment. Boys are reared in a manner to be strong and macho so that they are able to meet outside challenges while girls are brought up to take care of domestic chores. |
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Disadvantaged children such as domestic child workers. |
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Illegitimate, adopted and physically and mentally challenged children. |
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Legal Framework Against Corporal Punishment: |
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Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, clearly enunciates that a child must be “protected from all forms of physical and mental violence while in the care of parents and others.” |
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Article 37 is also pertinent in this respect. “ No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” |
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Section 89 of the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code 1860)(No XLV) empowers parents, teachers and other guardians to use corporal punishment as a means to discipline and correct the behavior of under-12 children. However, such punishment is required to be moderate and reasonable. In case the punishment inflicts serious injuries as defined in section 319 (hurt) and 320 (grievous hurt) of the PPC, then the adult can be booked under sections 323 and 325 of the PPC respectively and can be penalized and imprisoned for it. |
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Following a sustained campaign by SPARC, corporal punishment is now prohibited in the Government schools in the Frontier (since December 2003), in the Punjab (since ………) and Sindh (since ………..) |
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The reason why corporal punishment is so strongly denounced is the fact that it denies the child his or her basic and fundamental rights of education and development as prescribed in Articles 6 and 28 of the UNCRC. Moreover, Article 12 is also breached in the course of physically punishing a child. |
Putting an End to Corporal Punishment
For any issue to be resolved, it is important that it is first recognized as a problem, relevant research should be carried out, and then only can development strategies be designed. Corporal punishment remains an accepted form of disciplining children, socially and culturally in many parts of the world, especially in Pakistan. Attitudes must change and the acceptance that children can be disciplined without the stick or the rod at home and schools is a possibility that has to be communicated. It took Sweden 20 years to legislate a law against all forms of corporal punishment in 1979. But this was not the end of the story. Equal efforts were put into the nationwide publicity of the law, in order to ensure its proper enforcement and implementation.
Today, there are ten countries in the world, which have laws that prohibit all violence to children. Following are some recommendations as to how corporal punishment can be put to an end:
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Research regarding the scope and magnitude of corporal punishment of children in the home, and in schools. |
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Identifying the causes underlying the use of corporal punishment. |
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Lobbying with government to legislate a law against all forms of corporal punishment. |
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Nationwide dissemination of information on how to promote positive and non-violent means of disciplining children. |
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Educational reforms are needed to ensure that teachers receive in-service training on children’s rights and on alternative methods to corporal punishment. |
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Include children rights within the school curriculum. |
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Children, parents, teachers, religious leaders, and media should work in collaboration to generate wider awareness regarding children’s rights. |
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Endorse a culture of respect for children’s rights by promoting positive values based on respect and equality.
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