Thanks to Hajime for this important posting.
Should there be a penalty for breaking this particular law? Perhaps the social stigma of using corporal punishment will be enough to discourage its use. And I gather that in Sweden, it is unusual to take parents to court for this offence.
It would be useful to hear from CHIFA members who live in countries where there is a penalty for breaking the law on corporal punishment of children, as to whether they think that a penalty is necessary to change the practice.
Tony Waterston
CHIFA profile: Tony Waterston is a retired consultant paediatrician who worked mainly in the community in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He spent 6 years working in Zambia and Zimbabwe and directed the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Diploma in Palestinian Child Health teaching programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was an Editor of the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and is on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics. His academic interests are child poverty, advocacy for child health and children's rights. He is currently the lead moderator of CHIFA. www.chifa.org <http://www.chifa.org/> He is also a member of the HIFA Steering Group. www.hifa.org/people/steering-group www.hifa.org/support/members/tony
Email: Tony.Waterston AT newcastle.ac.uk
