The Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to Corporal Punishment
(2008)Department of Law
- Abstract
- Corporal punishment of children is a widespread practice across the world. The implications of such violence consist of both physical and mental injuries and children are very vulnerable to such treatment. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was put into place, by States from all across the world, for the purpose of granting children a better protection in society. Today, all but two States in the world have ratified this wide-ranging convention granting children rights of both a civil and political as well as an economic, social and cultural nature. The preamble of this convention recognizes the physical and mental immaturity of children and their need of special protection. It also recognises the need for children to be brought up... (More)
- Corporal punishment of children is a widespread practice across the world. The implications of such violence consist of both physical and mental injuries and children are very vulnerable to such treatment. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was put into place, by States from all across the world, for the purpose of granting children a better protection in society. Today, all but two States in the world have ratified this wide-ranging convention granting children rights of both a civil and political as well as an economic, social and cultural nature. The preamble of this convention recognizes the physical and mental immaturity of children and their need of special protection. It also recognises the need for children to be brought up in a caring and loving environment and in an atmosphere of peace, tolerance and equality. The main principles of the Convention provides for non-discrimination, the principle of the best-interest of the child, a right to life, survival and development as well as a right to participation in decision-making. The same convention also provides for specific rights of protection from violence, both when it is conducted by State officials and by private individuals. Such protection should be granted to children in all settings. In order for these rights to be granted to children within the jurisdiction of the State parties, the Convention contains obligations that need to be fulfilled. Some are of a legislative nature, others are concerned with protection measures or awareness-raising. No mechanism allows for enforcement of the fulfilment of these obligations at the national level. The implementation and realization of these rights is instead monitored at the international level through a State reporting system. The State parties submit reports on their progress to a Committee of experts established under the Convention. The rights and obligations that are in place are very wide-ranging and clearly stated so as to offer children a full protection from violence such as corporal punishment. Unfortunately, this has only been the reality in 12% of the State parties. Even though the Committee and NGOs repeatedly have urged Governments to take action to stop such acts, little has been done. General Comments and Concluding Observations have been produced to describe the State obligations and the content of the rights in place. Alternative reports have been sent to the Committee by the NGOs to reveal violations in the State parties, since the State reports tend to be non-objective. The problem with the widespread use of corporal punishment can be solved with the use of the CRC, but only if the States chose to implement them and take them seriously. (Less)
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http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1558389
- author
- Holmqvist, Maria
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2008
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Folkrätt
- language
- English
- id
- 1558389
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-08 15:55:22
- date last changed
- 2010-03-08 15:55:22
@misc{1558389,
abstract = {{Corporal punishment of children is a widespread practice across the world. The implications of such violence consist of both physical and mental injuries and children are very vulnerable to such treatment. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was put into place, by States from all across the world, for the purpose of granting children a better protection in society. Today, all but two States in the world have ratified this wide-ranging convention granting children rights of both a civil and political as well as an economic, social and cultural nature. The preamble of this convention recognizes the physical and mental immaturity of children and their need of special protection. It also recognises the need for children to be brought up in a caring and loving environment and in an atmosphere of peace, tolerance and equality. The main principles of the Convention provides for non-discrimination, the principle of the best-interest of the child, a right to life, survival and development as well as a right to participation in decision-making. The same convention also provides for specific rights of protection from violence, both when it is conducted by State officials and by private individuals. Such protection should be granted to children in all settings. In order for these rights to be granted to children within the jurisdiction of the State parties, the Convention contains obligations that need to be fulfilled. Some are of a legislative nature, others are concerned with protection measures or awareness-raising. No mechanism allows for enforcement of the fulfilment of these obligations at the national level. The implementation and realization of these rights is instead monitored at the international level through a State reporting system. The State parties submit reports on their progress to a Committee of experts established under the Convention. The rights and obligations that are in place are very wide-ranging and clearly stated so as to offer children a full protection from violence such as corporal punishment. Unfortunately, this has only been the reality in 12% of the State parties. Even though the Committee and NGOs repeatedly have urged Governments to take action to stop such acts, little has been done. General Comments and Concluding Observations have been produced to describe the State obligations and the content of the rights in place. Alternative reports have been sent to the Committee by the NGOs to reveal violations in the State parties, since the State reports tend to be non-objective. The problem with the widespread use of corporal punishment can be solved with the use of the CRC, but only if the States chose to implement them and take them seriously.}},
author = {{Holmqvist, Maria}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to Corporal Punishment}},
year = {{2008}},
}