This reform makes Paraguay the 10th Latin American state to achieve this fundamental reform for children. Globally, Paraguay is the 50th state to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including the home.

Article 1 of the new law confirms the right of the child and adolescent to good treatment and the prohibition of corporal punishment and humiliating treatment (unofficial translation):

All children and adolescents have the right to good treatment and for their physical, psychological and emotional integrity to be respected. This right includes the protection of their image, their identity, their autonomy, their thoughts, their feelings, their dignity and their values.

Corporal punishment and humiliating treatment of children and adolescents is prohibited as a form of correction or discipline, especially when it is imparted by parents, tutors, guardians or anyone responsible for their education, care, guidance, or treatment of any kind.

Children and adolescents are especially entitled to receive guidance, education, care and discipline by implementing guidelines for positive parenting.

The new law puts an emphasis on prevention of corporal punishment and measures to ensure implementation of the law (article 5). It also requires the Ministry of Education and Culture to provide and allocate the necessary means and resources to effectively implement prohibition of corporal punishment in the formal and non-formal education field (article 6) and, together with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, to establish accessible complaints mechanisms (article 8).

Prior to this reform, corporal punishment was prohibited in shelter homes, in penal institutions and as a sentence for crime in Paraguay, but it was not explicitly prohibited in the home, other alternative care settings, day care and schools.

Further information

• Further information on the reform in Paraguay
• Individual country report on law, treaty body recommendations and relevant research in Paraguay
• The latest facts and figures on global progress towards prohibition

The post Paraguay becomes 50th state worldwide to prohibit all corporal punishment of children first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

Globally, Peru is the 48th state to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including the home. It means that now a quarter of all UN member states have now achieved a ban, bringing the proportion of the global child population fully legally protected from violent punishment to 10% – a figure still remarkably low but nevertheless increasing.

Article 1 of the new law – which will be signed by the President in the coming days – clearly prohibits corporal punishment in all settings (unofficial and provisional translation):

1. Purpose of the Law

To prohibit the use of physical and humiliating punishment against children and adolescents.

This prohibition applies in all areas where children and adolescents are, including the home, school, community, workplaces and other related places.”

The law defines physical punishment in article 2 as “the use of force, in the exercise of powers of upbringing or educating [children or adolescents], intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort in order to correct, control or change the behaviour of the children and adolescents”. Humiliating punishment is defined as “any offensive, denigrating, devaluing, stigmatizing or mocking, in the exercise of the powers of upbringing or education, in order to correct, control or change the behaviour of children and adolescents”.

The law amends the Code of Children and Adolescents by inserting a new article 3-A confirming the right to good treatment. It also explicitly repeals article 74(d) of the Code on Children and Adolescents and article 423(3) of the Civil Code, both of which authorise parents and others to “moderately correct” children.

Further information

• Further information on the reform in Peru
• Individual country report on law, treaty body recommendations and relevant research in Peru
• The latest facts and figures on global progress towards prohibition

The post Peru becomes 9th Latin American state to prohibit all corporal punishment of children first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

This briefing, published jointly by the Global Initiative, UNICEF and Save the Children, graphically illustrates the progress made to date in the region, and sets out what needs to be done in those states that have yet to achieve law reform. Crucially, it identifies immediate opportunities for drafting and introducing prohibiting legislation.

“Our societies and legal systems do not tolerate violence as a way of interpersonal interaction or conflict resolution among adults. Children are not second-class citizens; on the contrary, they deserve special protection from their family, society and the state. States must send a clear message by urgently prohibiting all forms of violence against children, including violence disguised as discipline.” (Rosa Maria Ortiz, Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights)

The briefing – in English and Spanish – is being distributed at the 6th World Congress on School Violence and Public Policies in Lima, Peru, May 2015. It is available here (in English and Spanish).

A limited number of hard copies is available for advocacy purposes, email info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

The post Continuing the drive towards prohibition in Latin America – updated briefing from the Global Initiative first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

“The father, mother, or other family members, guardians or other persons legally responsible for the son or daughter have the responsibility, the right and duty to provide, consistent with the child’s evolving capacities, appropriate direction and guidance to the child, without putting at risk his or her health, physical integrity, psychological and personal dignity and under no circumstances using physical punishment or any type of humiliating treatment as a form of correction or discipline.

“The Ministry of Family, Youth and Children, in coordination with other state institutions and society shall promote forms of positive, participatory and non-violent discipline as alternatives to physical punishment and other forms of humiliating discipline.”

The new Code was published in the Official Gazette on 8 October 2014, and will take effect on 8 April 2015.

In addition, on 14 November 2014 – following sustained advocacy by the Group for Good Treatment, coordinated by the Ombudsperson for Children – the Ministry of Family, Adolescents and Children issued Resolution No. 244/2014 confirming prohibition of all corporal punishment in all protection centres for children.

With this reform there are now 44 states worldwide where corporal punishment of children is prohibited in all settings including the home.

For further information, see the states prohibiting page, and the detailed country report on Nicaragua.

The post Another Latin American state protects children from all corporal punishment first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

“All forms of corporal punishment, ill-treatment and any act that physically or mentally injures or impairs children and adolescents are prohibited….”

The reform makes Argentina the seventh Latin American country to enact legislation fully protecting children from all corporal punishment, including within the home – giving full legal protection from this form of violence to 47.6% of the region’s children. The total number of states to achieve this worldwide is now 41 (protecting 9.1% of the world child population).

For further information, see the states prohibiting page, and the detailed country report on Argentina.

The post Landmark law passed in Argentina first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

In this context, the Global Initiative’s new briefing aims to promote action for prohibition across Latin America. It highlights the human rights imperative to prohibit all violent punishment of children and illustrates progress towards prohibition across the region. Emphasising that many immediate opportunities for working to fulfill children’s right to protection in law from all corporal punishment exist across the region, it underlines that now is the time to consider what can be done to speed progress towards universal prohibition and elimination across Latin America.

The briefing is available in English and Spanish.

Hard copies are available from info@endcorporalpunishment.org.

The post New briefing on progress towards prohibition in Latin America first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.

The child and adolescent has the right to good treatment, comprising a non-violent upbringing and education, based on mutual respect and solidarity. (2) The exercise of the authority of the mother, father, guardian, family members and educators should use non-violent methods in parenting, education and correction. Any physical, violent and humiliating punishment is prohibited.

Article 117 confirms that physical punishment is prohibited in schools; article 338 prohibits its use in specialised centres (orientation and social reintegration centres), and article 342 states the right of children and adolescents deprived of their liberty not to be subjected to corporal punishment.

The Code came into force on 6 August 2014, making Bolivia the sixth Latin American state to prohibit all corporal punishment, the 39th state worldwide.

For further information, see “Countdown to prohibition“, “States prohibiting“, and the detailed country report on Bolivia.

The post Bolivia becomes sixth Latin American state to prohibit all corporal punishment first appeared on End Corporal Punishment of Children.