Raise your hand against smacking

CoE Campaign to abolish corporal punishment of children kicks off in Serbia for International Human Rights Day

Belgrade, Dec 10, 2008 - Serbian Government’s Council for Child’s Rights, South East Europe Regional Office of the Save the Children Norway and the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade marked the International Human Rights Day on December 10 by launching the campaign to abolish corporal punishment of children.

Council of Europe campaign “Raise Your Hand Against Smacking” aims at achieving full prohibition of corporal punishment of children, promoting positive parenting and raising awareness of children’s rights throughout Europe. The Campaign is supported in Serbia by the Council for Child’s Rights and Save the Children Norway.

In Serbia, 72 percent of children experiences some form of violence as a method of upbringing, which is significantly higher than in Europe, the Council’s Deputy President Ljiljana Lucic told the media at the launch held in Serbian government.

“The campaign aims not only to ban corporal punishment against children but also to raise awareness on the rights of children to grow up without violence and to be raised without this form of punishment as well as to implement measures promoting positive parenting”, said Lucic, also State Secretary of the Serbian Labour and Social Issues Ministry.

Lucic said abolishing corporal punishment is explicitly demanded worldwide by the end of 2009, as well as that she expects Serbian government to adopt the National Strategy for Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence next week.

According to her, Serbian law bans corporal punishment of children in schools, but there is no such provision in the Family Law and therefore the Ministry for Labour and Social Issues will propose amendments to that law to ban corporal punishment as a means of/for discipline.

Only 2.5 percent of children worldwide have equal rights as adults, head of the “Save the Children – Norway” Regional Office Bjorn Hagen said citing the data by the U.N. General Assembly on causes of corporal punishment of children.

“In 106 countries corporal punishment of children is not banned in schools, in 145 countries it is not banned in institutions dealing with children, in 78 countries corporal punishment is allowed, while in 31 beating of children is allowed”, Hagen said.

Unfortunately, most cases of violence against children remain undisclosed because of children’s fear to talk about it, he added.

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Ambassador Constantin Yerocostopoulos thanked the Serbian government for their support and initiative to begin this campaign, making Serbia the third country in the region to launch it, but also extended the gratitude to Save the Children Norway for their technical and financial support, adding that without them this campaign would not have been possible in Serbia.

He said one third of the Council of Europe member states made corporal punishment illegal while others are committed to legal reform, but it remains lawful in most countries and lawfulness of corporal punishment is contrary to the right of children to equal legal protection, he said.

Yerocostopoulos paraphrased CoE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg by saying that “the purpose of banning corporal punishment is not of course to prosecute and punish more parents, but to give children equal protection of their physical integrity and human dignity. In short, we must treat children for what they are: holders of rights.”

“The best way to get our message across is to implement it at home. If there is one single point that I hope our joint campaign will send to the wide public but also to the decision makers, it is to make clear that discouraging corporal punishment by morally condemning it, is good but not enough. If we really want to protect our children and their physical and psychological integrity, we must not only condemn but also outlaw all forms of violence against children”, Yerocostopoulos concluded.