Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 2024
Quick read: RCPCH makes the case for equal protection from assault in England and Northern Ireland 1. The issue
2. Key evidence
In England and Northern Ireland, children are the only group of people who are not fully protected from physical assault leading to significant negative impacts on children. This is because:
Making the health case for ending physical punishment
•
•
•
In England, a parent can use the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ to justify hitting a child (Section 58, Children Act 2004). In Northern Ireland the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence (Article 2, Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006) also exists.
•
•
This means that if a parent physically assaults their child, they may be able to argue, either as a means of attempting to avoid prosecution or in court, that this was ‘reasonable punishment’ (also referred to as ‘reasonable chastisement’) and therefore was not breaking the law prohibiting assault.
Children who experience physical punishment are 2.6i times more likely to experience mental health problems than children who do not experience physical punishment. Children who experience physical punishment are more 2.3ii times likely to go on to experience significant harm through more serious forms of physical abuse. There is evidence to suggest that children who are physically punished are more likely to believe that violence is accepted and encouraged by society, which may lead to them behaving in a more violent manner in adolescence and adulthood.iii
Why legal change? Learnings from other jurisdictions The evidence from countries where corporal punishment has been prohibited is clear- there is a tangible impact on the number of children who experience physical punishment.iv For example:
The RCPCH has carried out an evidence review of the impacts of physical punishment (corporal punishment) on children and young people, finding that the use of physical punishment has a negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, as well as their social, emotional and behavioural outcomes. Steps must therefore be taken to reduce the use of physical punishment of children.
•
•
•
Our full report sets out the case for following the lead of Scotland and Wales and changing the law in England and Northern Ireland in order to serve as a catalyst for ending the use of physical punishment across the United Kingdom.
1
In Germany, in 1992, 30% of young people had been subjected to corporal punishment; by 2002, the figure was 3%. In Romania, there has been a 22% decrease in caregivers’ use of corporal punishment within a decade following prohibition between 20012012. Children’s reports of the use of severe forms of corporal punishment have halved. In Sweden, half of children were regularly subjected to corporal punishment in the 1970s, before prohibition. This number reduced drastically to a few per cent by the 2000s.