England
– Children are unbeatable! Coordinating Group
Update: January 2003
UK-wide,
the CAU! Alliance now includes over 350 organisations, projects and programmes
and almost 450 prominent individuals. The Coordinating Group in England
includes Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC and Save the Children
and the Secretariat is provided by Peter Newell and Antonia Horobin at
APPROACH.
Since the
November 8 2001 announcement that the Government would not change the
law allowing “reasonable chastisement” in England and Wales, but simply
keep use of the defence under review, Minister’s statements have changed
little. (Though one positive policy reversal has been hinted at: Baroness
Ashton indicated to the National Childminding Association that the National
Daycare Standards will be revised in 2003 to remove English childminders’
rights to smack children with parents’ permission). Within Government,
responsibility for the issue appears to have shifted to the Children and
Young People’s Unit.
Committee
on the Rights of the Child
When the Committee on the Rights of the Child examined the UK’s Second
Report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the summer,
it expressed deep regret that the Government “persists in retaining the
defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ and has taken no significant action
towards prohibiting all corporal punishment of children in the family.”
In the light
of the proposals in the original Department of Health consultation document
and the developments in Scotland, the Committee underlined “that governmental
proposals to limit rather than to remove the ‘reasonable chastisement’
defence do not comply with the principles and provisions of the Convention
…, particularly since they constitute a serious violation of the dignity
of the child… Moreover, they suggest that some forms of corporal punishment
are acceptable and therefore undermine educational measures to promote
positive and non-violent discipline.” The Committee went on to recommend
that the UK “with urgency adopt legislation throughout the State party
to remove the “reasonable chastisement” defence and prohibit all corporal
punishment in the family and in any other contexts not covered by existing
legislation; promote positive, participatory and non-violent forms of
discipline and respect for children’s equal right to human dignity and
physical integrity, engaging with children and parents and all those who
work with and for them, and carry out public education programmes on the
negative consequences of corporal punishment.”
Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Earlier in the summer, in May, another UN human rights Treaty Body, the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had echoed the Committee
on the Rights of the Child in calling for prohibition, quoting “the principle
of the dignity of the individual that provides the foundation for international
human rights law”.
The Children
and Young People’s Unit’s response to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child simply reiterated current law: “The Government is absolutely opposed
to violence and abuse against children. The law only allows what is reasonable
in terms of the physical punishment of children – it does not permit child
abuse. We recognise that parenting can be difficult, but we must avoid
heavy-handed intrusion into family life… The Convention refers to the
protection of children from physical violence and maltreatment. The Government
is satisfied that UK law is in line with these provisions.
“We believe our policy reflects common sense views of the vast majority
of people. It is not only wrong but dangerous to link smacking and child
abuse deaths. It diverts attention from those children most at risk.”
In the Parliamentary debate that followed last October, the Minister for
Young People, John Denham, repeated this response, despite being pressed
strongly by backbenchers who support the Alliance aims. Mr Denham also
indicated that he personally abhors smacking. But he added, dangerously,
that he thinks it an unimportant issue, including to the children and
young people he has talked to. He concluded: “Parenting can be difficult,
but we must avoid bringing the police and criminal law into family life.
The Government's approach to reducing dependence on smacking is to help
parents to do so by promoting positive parenting…”
Public opinion
In February, the NSPCC commissioned and released findings from a MORI
survey of public opinion in England and Wales, which challenged the Government’s
claim of popular support for smacking. This showed that, even after the
Government’s announcement that the ‘reasonable chastisement’ defence would
be maintained, a majority of people (58 per cent) would support changing
the law provided that parents are not prosecuted for “trivial smacks”.
Support for reform was particularly strong among young adults (70 per
cent of 16-25 year olds) and women (63 per cent). The Observer broke the
story with the headline “Outlaw smacking now, say parents”, followed by
substantial media attention.
Professional opinion
In September, the National Childminding Association, the National Early
Years Network, the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association
and the NSPCC held a national conference with more than 200 participants
from a wide range of professional groups working with and for children.
A letter from the Chief Executives of the four organisations was published
in The Independent. Entitled “It never did me any harm..?”, the event
showed how professionals can protect children from physical punishment
by promoting positive parenting and law reform.
Parliamentary support
The number of active parliamentarians in Westminster grew considerably.
Following a letter from NSPCC Chief Executive Mary Marsh, more MPs have
joined the Alliance; counting those who have signed early day motions,
we believe we have at least 50 strong supporters and we have not yet started
consistent lobbying for more. To mark the Government’s disappointing November
2001 announcement, a group of backbenchers urged Ministers to change the
law. In the House of Lords, a number of debates have highlighted the issue.
NSPCC campaign
In May, the NSPCC set out to contest the idea that smacking is common
sense with an award-winning initiative – ‘Hitting children must stop.
FULL STOP’. Four powerful billboard posters, in children’s story book
style, and radio adverts challenged popular assumptions about smacking
- eg that it is effective. A MORI survey of more than 1500 parents showed
that a majority of parents (57 per cent) think that physical punishment
is the wrong way to discipline children, and those who have hit their
children regret it afterwards. The campaign generated widespread interest:
celebrity model and mum of four Jerry Hall unveiled the initiative in
The Observer; there were more than 500 items in the national and regional
media; 69 MPs signed an Early Day Motion and others took part in a photo-opportunity;
and 75,000 people ordered a new positive parenting booklet entitled Encouraging
Better Behaviour. Research carried out before and after the initiative
showed significant shifts in parental attitudes. For example, those agreeing
with the statement “smacking a toddler is cruel” increased from 43 per
cent to 54 per cent.
The
campaign in 2003
Climbié Report is now with Ministers: could be the first child
abuse inquiry to identify removing the archaic “reasonable chastisement”
defence as fundamental to child protection and to preventing tragedies
like Victoria’s.
The Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights is currently finalising a report on the
UK’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: hopefully
it will underline the UK’s obligations under international law to remove
the “reasonable chastisement” defence.
The Green
Paper on children at risk, being prepared by the Cabinet Office and expected
shortly, will provide another context for lobbying.
The NSPCC
Spring 2003 initiative on protecting babies and toddlers from harm will
focus on physical punishment.
Contact the
CAU! Coordinating Group at info@endcorporalpunishment.org
77 Holloway Road, LONDON N7 8JZ; PHONE 020 7700 0627
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