Ending Physical and Humiliating Punishment against Children: Kenya

“Ending Physical and Humiliating Punishment against Children: Kenya” is part of a series reports, studying Physical and Humiliating Punishment against Children in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, published by Save the Children Sweden. The extent of corporal punishment in Kenya is not different from other parts of the world. Documented evidence shows that corporal punishment occurs in many settings, including rehabilitation and remand homes. Data collected from the field demonstrated that the government has taken steps to address corporal punishment in schools and in a welcome development in April 2001, Kenya’s minister of education formally banned corporal punishment in the schools as a matter of policy and proposed to Parliament the elimination of the sections of the Education Act of 1968 that provided for such punishment. This study seeks to identify and demonstrate best practices in the prevention of corporal punishment – particularly practices that are designed by or feature the involvement of children. The report presents information on corporal punishment from two main sources – a literature review and data collected from seven districts in Kenya.The first chapter highlights the background to the study and also outlines the study objectives, Chapter 2 discusses the study methodology, while Chapter 3 presents a review of the literature on corporal punishment. Chapter 4 discusses the objectives of the study and provides recommendations for each objective, also capturing the voices of the children. A general conclusion is found in Chapter 5.