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Physical and humiliating punishment (PHP)
By April 2017, 52 countries have a total ban of corporal punishment in all settings. This means that a large majority of children in the world are living in countries where they are not protected against physical and humiliating punishment.
Children continue to be physically punished and deliberately humiliated in almost all societies and across all cultures as this practice remains far too common at home, in schools and institutions. Teachers, parents, and other caregivers often lack knowledge on how to guide children using nonviolent methods, and in many communities physical and humiliating punishment is deeply rooted in social norms and culture. In a humanitarian crisis, children are more at risk of physical and humiliating punishment, due to the increased stress on families, separation, and the breakdown of formal and informal safety nets.
Save the Children works towards preventing and protecting children from all forms of actual and threatened physical and humiliating punishment and bullying, in the home, in schools and in all other settings. This is done through advocating for legal reform and supporting awareness-raising initiatives leading to changes in attitudes and practices. We also promote parenting education and positive discipline programs, targeting caregivers, teachers and other people working with children. Children are seen as key actors throughout the process.
Save the Children uses the term Physical and Humiliating Punishment, instead of corporal punishment, to capture the wide array of disciplining methods used by adults towards children, which may include corporal or physical punishment, and the threat of it, as well as psychological punishment that belittles, scares or ridicules the child.
Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires states to take "all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child..."
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RecommendedEnding corporal punishment and other cruel and degrading punishment of children through law reform and social change- Campaigns Manual
All over the world, children are hit and hurt by adults responsible for their care and attention. In a minority of countries- though far too many – children in conflict with the law may be sentenced by the courts to corporal punishment when they are convi
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RecommendedMoving towards enacting a new law- The Philippines
In the Philippines, Save the Children, in cooperation with other international and domestic voluntary organisations, politicians and policymakers, have pushed for the enactment of a law to promote positive discipline and ban all forms of corporal and hum
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RecommendedProhibiting corporal punishment of children in Central Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific. Progress Report 2014
Hitting people is wrong – and children are people too. Corporal punishment of children breaches their fundamental rights to respect for their human dignity and physical integrity. Its legality breaches their right to equal protection under the law. Urgent
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RecommendedSave the Children's Child Protection Video
The Child Protection Initiative has produced an animated video that communicates Save the Children's child protection work and the impact on children's lives as seen by children. "Violence against children is no longer tolerated" is the new Global Breakth
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RecommendedPositive Discipline in Everyday Parenting PDEP (fourth edition)
Parents, communities and governments around the world are recognizing children’s rights to protection from physical punishment and to discipline that respects their dignity. Increasingly, parents are being advised to use “positive discipline”. But parents
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“As Long as We Live on the Streets, They Will Beat Us”: Rwanda’s abusive detention of children
International law states that children only should be deprived of liberty as a measure of last resort, and the UNCRC places an obligation on governments to protect children from all forms of physical or psychological violence. If children do commit crimes
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Impact Evaluation of the Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting Programme (PDEP)
The Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) programme is based on the theory that a person’s behavioural beliefs determine whether the person perceives that behaviour as positive or negative. It is designed to reduce parents’ approval of physical
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Raising Children Without Violence is Possible: How Positive Discipline Leads to Change and Benefits Society
Every five minutes, a child dies as a result of violence. Punitive violence by adults is by far the most common form of violence against children, with three out of four children aged 2 to 4 worldwide – close to 300 million – regularly subjected to physic
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CSO Forum to End Violence against Children: Annual report 2018
The Civil Society Forum to End Violence against Children (CSO Forum) is a broad coalition of civil society organizations operating at the national, regional and global levels to advocate for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.2 an
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Unseen, Unsafe: The underinvestment in ending violence against children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste
Unseen, Unsafe reveals the alarming scale of violence being perpetrated against children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, and the critically low amount of funding being invested to address it. Produced by Save the Children in collaboration with Child Fund,
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Changing the World: Making Non-Violent Childhoods a Reality
This report was produced by the Council of Baltic States after the high-level conference on corporal punishment against children which took place in Stockholm in November 2018. The report aims to be a strategic reference document to introduce full prohibi
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Kosovo Passes a Full Legal Ban on Corporal Punishment of Children
Kosovo becomes the 55th country to achieve a full legal prohibition of all forms of corporal punishment of children in all settings. This is a great achievement for Save the Children and several other children and youth groups who have persistently advoca