The World Health Organization has declared corporal punishment a global public health concern that causes serious harm to children’s physical and mental wellbeing, and can lead to criminal behaviour.
A new report found that across 49 low- and middle-income countries, children exposed to corporal punishment – defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light” – were 24% less likely to be developmentally on track than children who were not.
Globally, an estimated 1.2 billion children are subjected to corporal punishment each year. In the past month, 17% of all children exposed to corporal punishment suffered severe forms – such as being hit on the head, face or ears, or hit hard and repeatedly, said the report.
“There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that corporal punishment carries multiple risks to the health of children,” said Etienne Krug, director of the WHO department for health determinants, promotion and prevention. “It offers no benefits to the behaviour, development or wellbeing of children and no benefit to parents or societies either.
“Corporal punishment is a global public health concern – it’s time to end this harmful practice to ensure that children thrive at home and at school.”
Children exposed to corporal punishment are more likely to have anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and emotional instability, which continue into adulthood and can lead to alcohol and drug use, violent behaviour and suicide.
Among children aged two to 14 years, parent and caregiver self-reported rates of corporal punishment in the past month ranged 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 experienced school corporal punishment in their lifetime, according to the report. Lower rates were found in the western Pacific region, with lifetime prevalence about 25%. Across all regions, corporal punishment was reported to be common at primary and high school levels.
Corporal punishment is often accompanied by psychological punishment, which involves behaviour that belittles, humiliates, scares or ridicules a child. The common acceptance of corporal punishment has been embedded in law, religion and cultural traditions in many societies.
Bryanna Mariñas, 23, an advocate and researcher from the Philippines and a member of the first global youth movement to end violence against children, said: “Corporal punishment is the most common form of violence against children, yet it is barely talked about … Coming from the Philippines I know how deeply normalised it is, [but] what is normalised is not always what is right.” Mariñas has made a film featuring the voices of survivors of violence to raise awareness of the impact it has.
Today, 68 states out of 193 have full prohibition of corporal punishment; the first country to ban it was Sweden in 1979. In the UK, it is banned in Scotland and Wales, but is still allowed in home settings in England and Northern Ireland.