The World Health Organisation has warned that corporal punishment poses a serious global public health threat, harming children’s physical and mental wellbeing and increasing the risk of later criminal behaviour.
A new WHO report found that children exposed to corporal punishment were 24% less likely to be developmentally on track compared with those who were not. The study examined data from 49 low and middle income countries.
Corporal punishment, defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light”, affects an estimated 1.2 billion children worldwide each year. In the past month alone, 17% of children subjected to it experienced severe forms, such as blows to the head, face or ears, or repeated hard strikes.
“There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that corporal punishment carries multiple risks to the health of children,” said Etienne Krug, director of the WHO’s department for health determinants, promotion and prevention. “It offers no benefits to children’s behaviour, development or wellbeing and no benefit to parents or societies either. It’s time to end this harmful practice to ensure that children thrive at home and at school.”
WHO report highlight on children
The report highlighted that children subjected to corporal punishment face higher risks of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and emotional instability, which often persist into adulthood and are linked to drug and alcohol use, violent behaviour and suicide.
Self-reported rates of corporal punishment among parents and caregivers of children aged two to 14 varied widely, from 30% in Kazakhstan and 32% in Ukraine to 63% in Serbia, 64% in Sierra Leone and 77% in Togo. In Africa and Central America, 70% of children reported experiencing corporal punishment at school during their lifetime, while in the western Pacific region prevalence was about 25%.
The practice is often accompanied by psychological punishment, including behaviour that humiliates, ridicules or frightens a child. Its persistence is rooted in legal, cultural and religious traditions in many societies.
“Corporal punishment is the most common form of violence against children, yet it is barely talked about,” said Bryanna Mariñas, a 23-year-old advocate and researcher from the Philippines and a member of the first global youth movement to end violence against children. “Coming from the Philippines I know how deeply normalised it is but what is normalised is not always what is right.” Mariñas has produced a film highlighting the experiences of survivors to raise awareness of its impact.
Since Sweden became the first country to outlaw corporal punishment in 1979, 68 out of 193 UN member states have introduced full bans. In the UK, it is prohibited in Scotland and Wales but remains permitted in the home in England and Northern Ireland.
