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´Sdim
Curo Plant! Cynghrair
o sefydliadau sy'n ceisio diwygio’r gyfraith i rhoi’r un amddiffyniad
i blant ag sydd gan An
alliance of organisations seeking legal reform to give children the same
protection
In January 2002 a part time Campaign Co-ordinator was appointed with funding and support in kind from Barnardo's Cymru, NSPCC, Save the Children Cymru and Children in Wales. Political and Legal Developments The National Assembly for Wales does not have the power to change the law regarding ‘reasonable chastisement’ but it does have devolved responsibility for health, education, and social services. Welsh Assembly Short Debate In January 2002 Christine Chapman, Assembly Member for the Cynon Valley, chose the topic “Hitting People is Wrong and Children are People Too” for a Short Debate in the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW). [This is the equivalent of winning a Private Members Ballot]. Christine called for a complete ban on the physical punishment of children and for the NAfW to take a lead on the issue and undertake a campaign of public education in Wales. Individual speakers from the other 3 parties supported this, indicating that there was a basis for cross-party support within the NAfW for change. The responsible Minister, Jane Hutt, indicated that she was personally sympathetic in her reply. Childminding & Daycare Standards for Wales In February the NAfW took a different line to England and outlawed the hitting, shaking or humiliating children by childminders in Wales. The new Childminding and Daycare Regulations and Standards came into force in April 2002. The NAfWs position is the one promoted by the National Childminding Association. In a short debate on the Regulations in the NAfW, the Minister, Jane Hutt and cross-party AMs paid particular attention to the wider issue of physical punishment of children. Meeting with Welsh MPs Members of the ‘SCP!/CAU! Cymru Strategy Group and Christine Chapman met Welsh MPs involved with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children in Wales in February 2002 to discuss the campaign. Physical punishment of children is domestic violence In September 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru made a presentation to the Welsh Assembly Government Working Group on Domestic Violence, and successfully argued that children who are routinely physically punished at home are suffering domestic violence and that this now needs to be recognised. The Working Group unanimously agreed that the definition of domestic violence should include the physical punishment of children. Cabinet Statement In October 2002. Jane Hutt, the Minister for Health and Social Services and Minister for Children made a statement to the Assembly entitled ‘Supporting Children & Parents in Wales’. This statement referred to the recent recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and committed the Assembly to a principled stand against the corporal punishment of children and to support parents in developing alternative forms of discipline. She announced that a Children and Parents Code would be developed in Wales. Campaign Support and Campaign Strategies By October 2002 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru had signed up 35 of the 60 Welsh Assembly Members. Following Christine Chapman’s Short Debate in January SCP!/CAU! Cymru wrote to all the AMs who had spoken and asked if we could work with them to raise the issue of physical punishment of children in their respective parties and among fellow AMs. We made presentations to the 2 biggest parties [Labour & Plaid] in their Group meetings and targeted individuals. Over 6 months we developed a set of simple written information. This eventually became a customised bi-lingual Information Pack, which we distributed at a Briefing Event for Assembly members and others in the Assembly building in early July. We had a speaker from Sweden, Mali Nilsson, the Children's Commissioner, Peter Clarke, a speaker from each party and the Minister, Jane Hutt, to reply. The Briefing was very well attended – we publicised it extensively and exhaustively. 4 members of the Cabinet including the First Minister came and Jane Hutt said she would sign up as a supporter in her personal capacity. One speaker described how she had changed her mind after reading and thinking about all the evidence. This has been our experience – that given time, information and an opportunity to discuss and listen e.g. in a Party group meeting without the pressure of being on a public platform, people can and do change their minds. After the Briefing event a significant number of AMs signed up. We have 6 Welsh MP Supporters and Baroness Findlay of Llandaff, who is a People’s Peer. 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru now has 445 individual/organisational supporters in Wales. New supporters include NCH Cymru and both the North and South Wales Child Protection Forum. Numbers of individual supporters are growing rapidly too – on the Eisteddfod field, despite the dreadful weather, 300 people signed up! We achieved very extensive press coverage at the time of the Ministerial Statement – this was largely due to putting out an anticipatory Press Release 2 days prior to the statement and having the support of the NSPCC Press Office in London. The early press release is a tactic we would use again. Successes and Failures 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru has had a very successful year. In January 2002 we did not anticipate that we would take such great steps forward, particularly in relation to the Assembly. This was really set in motion by Christine Chapman’s short debate, which raised the issue within the heart of the Assembly. The appointment of a dedicated campaign co-ordinator has been very successful. It has enabled us to respond and react to unexpected events, such as Christine’s initiative and to organize the materials and co-ordinate the resources of Strategy Group members to best advantage. At the 2002 Agora organised by Theatr Fforwm Cymru and held in Cardiff Bay, Cymdeithas Tai Hafan (an organisational supporter of 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru) chose to present a piece of improvised, interactive ‘legislative’ theatre to highlight the fact that children do not have the same rights in law as adults, especially where violence is concerned. 60 or more people attended the two-hour session and after considering the evidence, 22 people changed their minds and voted in favour of a legal ban on hitting children! We have at times failed to respond to press opportunities and have had to turn down requests to make presentations and lead discussions – this is as a direct result of our limitations of time and resources – Campaign Co-ordinator works only 14 hours per week. We have put out a Newsletter every quarter for all our Supporters – we have found this is a very successful way to get up to date information out and we print more than we send out so that we use them for a variety of information purposes Next Steps We plan: ? To
hold a Strategy Planning Day early in February for the Strategy Group
and friends of the Campaign. We did this last year. Contact Details For more information contact Jill Taylor, Campaign Co-ordinator for Wales on 01443 479547 or Louise Harries at Children in Wales, 25 Windsor Place, Cardiff CF10 3BZ Tel: 029 2034 2434 E-mail: louise.harries@childreninwales7.fsnet.co.uk Or visit the CHILDREN ARE UNBEATABLE! WEBSITE at www.childrenareunbeatable.co.uk.On the website you'll also find information relating to the 'SCP!/CAU! Cymru campaign. Simply click onto the 'Cymru/Wales' button in the main menu. |
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