A clarion call by children to end Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment affects over 1.3 billion children worldwide and is the most common form of child abuse globally and in Sri Lanka, where complaints of cruelty against children have increased by three-fold in the past ten years. As the world celebrates and respective governments pledge to do more to abolish a heinous crime against children on International Day to End Corporal Punishment on April 30th, neither the Government of Sri Lanka nor the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), the most powerful institution maintained by public funds to protect and promote children’s rights is recognizing the only day dedicated to a specific type of child abuse.
What are the proposed legal reforms to ban corporal punishment?
The only group against whom assault is decriminalized is the 25% of citizens, 5.2 million children in Sri Lanka.
After years of extensive work by multi-stakeholders, a special committee of experts appointed by NCPA has submitted the draft proposal for the Cabinet Memorandum to Prohibit Corporal Punishment to the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms on September 15, 2023, including the following amendments:
Penal Code Section 82 – “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under twelve years of age, or of unsound mind, by or by consent, either express or implied, of the guardian or other person, is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause, or be known by the doer to be likely to cause, to that person”
Penal Code Section 341(i) – “A, a schoolmaster in the reasonable exercise of his discretion as master, flogs B, one of his scholars A does not use criminal force to B because although A intends to cause fear and annoyance to B, he does not use force illegally”.
The purpose of a clean and strong law is to prevent crimes without discrimination, and with regard to children to prevent abuse. The law is not focused on targeting groups of individuals such as teachers or parents. It is reassuring to note that none of the 136 countries that have banned corporal punishment in schools or 66 countries that have banned it in homes and other settings has shown an increase in prosecution of parents or teachers. #NOguti national campaign is a collective effort to raise public awareness and overcome the final hurdle to push the Cabinet submission towards the dawn of a new era without violence for the true beneficiaries of the future, our children.
It is extremely disappointing that the Minister of Justice has delayed the submission of the proposal to the Cabinet without a plausible reason.
Why should Sri Lanka ban corporal punishment?
The child protection crisis is real and is an unbearable burden to the State.
A Study on Child Disciplinary Methods Practiced in Schools in Sri Lanka, conducted by NCPA in 2017 shockingly revealed that 80% of students are subjected to at least one episode of corporal punishment within one school term, 53% to physical abuse, and 72.5% to psychological aggression. Around 61.9% of teachers freely admitted to subjecting students to at least one episode of corporal punishment. None of the 18 recommendations has been implemented by the relevant authorities to-date.
The world-famous ‘Lancet’ medical journal published a meta-analysis in 2021 of over 50 years of research of over 300 studies showed overwhelming harmful consequences to children, adults and societies and a wide range of negative outcomes, while no studies have found evidence of any benefits. It further illustrated how corporal punishment violates not just children’s right to freedom from all violence, but also their rights to health, development, and education, and has damaging effects on society as well as individuals. Considering the strong evidence of the many negative impacts of corporal punishment combined with its very high prevalence, corporal punishment of children could be considered a public health crisis.
Ending violence against children is now a top priority of the World Health Organization (WHO).
When did Sri Lanka agree to ban corporal punishment?
Lack of visionary leadership and political commitment is producing scarred children who become unproductive citizens.
Ever since Sri Lanka ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1991, we have promised to implement legal reforms to end violence against children. During the review of CRC in 2018, ending violence against children, including corporal punishment and juvenile justice reforms were considered as “urgent and critical” priorities, which the State agreed to act on immediately.
Sri Lanka was bestowed the honour of being the only South Asian Path-finding country committed to ending violence against children, Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 in 2017. Ironically, the National Plan to End Violence Against Children (NPEVAC) collapsed in 2018 leaving our vulnerable children at greater risk of harm. Whilst our neighbours Bangladesh and Nepal banned corporal punishment in all settings in 2018, Pakistan started banning it on provincial level from Islamabad in 2022, and India is undergoing massive legal reforms on protecting women and children, Sri Lanka laments decades behind with abysmal effective progress.
The long-awaited National Child Protection Policy was finally passed by Cabinet in 2019. However, we are far behind schedule for the proposed five-year implementation period, leaving our vulnerable children at risk. Annual reports of Sri Lanka Police for 2022/2023 show an alarming rise in child abuse, elevating it to one of the top ten grave crimes in our paradise island.
This is an unprecedented escalation of the crisis.
How can Sri Lanka fulfill its commitment to ban corporal punishment?
A country cannot progress with the same rhetorical promises permitting State-sponsored child abuse.
Due to the indefatigable efforts of civil societies, there were several significant mile-stones achieved towards eradicating corporal punishment. In February 2021 the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict in case no: SC/FR/97/2017 referencing the definition of corporal punishment as per CRC, recommending penal code reforms repealing sections that legitimizes corporal punishment, endorsing Ministry of Circular no 12/2016 banning corporal punishment and strong message to the general public to reject archaic forms of discipline still practiced in our communities. On 01/01/2024 the amendments to Children and Young Persons Act were implemented via an extraordinary gazette notification. The two significant changes were increasing the age limit of a child from 16 to 18 to synchronize with the international definition and repeal of section 76(1) banning corporal punishment. However, these changes have been limited to a piece of paper without effective implementation of the laws on ground level.
During the 42nd and 43rd sessions of the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sri Lanka in February 2023, a record number of States made recommendations to ban corporal punishment unequivocally. All recommendations were adopted by Sri Lanka during the 53rd and 54th Sessions in July 2023 in Geneva.
It is only the second time in the history of our country that the Executive President currently holds the portfolio of Cabinet Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs. The first was during the tenure of the first and only female President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 1994. The last time that substantial efforts were made to protect children, including Penal Code Amendment of Section 308A to criminalize physical and mental cruelty was in 1995/96 and NCPA was established via Parliament Act No 50 of 1998. In 2005 the Ministry of Education released Circular No 12/2016 banning corporal punishment in classrooms but the practice continues unabated.
There is astounding evidence of harmful effects of corporal punishment, which is an archaic tool of abuse of power to express authority against the weak and vulnerable. It is an inhumane practice unfit for a civilized country of the 21st century. With an election looming, this is the perfect opportunity to exercise visionary leadership that will benefit the greater majority of vulnerable young citizens.
We urge President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister of Justice, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to take bold and decisive action to submit the Cabinet paper on legal reforms to unequivocally ban corporal punishment to ensure Every Right for Every Child of Mother Lanka!
(The writer is the Founder/Chairperson
Stop Child Cruelty Trust)
