Source: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child published on this website Wednesday 17 April 2024 by Jill Powell
The Executive Summary states:
“In England and Northern Ireland, children are the only group of people not fully protected in law from physical assault. This is because of the ‘reasonable punishment defence’, set out in the Children Act 2004 and the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland Order) 2006, which means that if a parent physically assaults their child, they may be able to argue (either as a means of avoiding prosecution or, ultimately, in court) that this was ‘reasonable punishment’. The evidence, as set out in Section 2 of this report, shows that the use of physical punishment has negative consequences for children’s physical and mental health, social, behavioural, and emotional well-being, parental engagement and school engagement. There is also evidence that physical punishment escalates in severity, putting children who are physically punished at higher risk of experiencing significant harm through serious physical assault. Scotland and Wales have paved the way for the United Kingdom to become a more equal society by removing the reasonable punishment defence from their legislation. This report sets out the evidence basis for England and Northern Ireland to follow suit and do the same by examining the evidence against the use of physical punishment with regard to children’s health, well-being and healthcare practice. Political leaders in England and Northern Ireland now have an opportunity to do the same and to tangibly demonstrate their commitment to champion children’s rights, improve outcomes for children and protect them from harm and to promote and protect the health, wellbeing, and success of the current and future generations of people living here in the UK. The recommendations from this report demonstrate to UK Government policymakers both the practicalities of removing this defence from law, and also the appropriate next steps to secure a reduction in the harmful practice of physical punishment."
To read the whole report and see the recommendations click: Equal protection from assault in England and Northern Ireland: The health, education and legal case for legislative change to remove the “reasonable punishment” defence and to prohibit all physical punishment of children. April 17 2024
