EPOCH New Zealand

25 August 2012

The New Zealand Police released their 10^th report  on implementation of the 2007 law change that banned physical punishment of children in New Zealand.  Assistant Commissioner of Police Malcolm Burgess says the review findings are consistent with previous reviews.

"We continue to be happy with the way the legislation is being applied by police staff" said Assistant Commissioner Burgess. "Numbers of events in most of the categories, including smacking have trended up. We attribute this to the more widespread use of the legislation by police as it becomes embedded in our enforcement practices and also to an increase in reporting as public awareness of the legislation grows”.

This review covers the period 22 June 2011 to 21 December 2011.  Police attended 500 child assault events of which 23 were “smacking”, 45 were “minor acts of physical discipline” and 344 were “other child assaults”.  In 88 cases no offence was disclosed.

Police define:

• “smacking” as a slap with an open hand on buttocks or legs that does not result in any form of injury
•  “minor act of physical discipline” as a slap with an open hand on any other part of the body, including the face, that does not result in any injury
•  “child assault” as any form of assault that results in injury.

The context and surrounding circumstances are also considered as cases are categorised.

Of the smacking incidents, three resulted in prosecutions, and of the minor acts of physical discipline, six resulted in prosecutions.   In most of the cases that resulted in guilty findings a sentence of some months’ supervision resulted.   In many of the cases that did not result in prosecution, families were referred to other agencies.

The full police report provides comparisons over reporting periods.  The upward trend in events attended is small in most categories.

EPOCH New Zealand is also satisfied with the way the law is being implemented and pleased that both public awareness of the legislation and discomfort with assaults on children appear to be growing.

10 August 2012

Albania has been added to the list of states in which children are legally protected from all forms of corporal punishment in all settings, including the home.

The Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Law No. 10347, dated 4 November 2010) states in article 21 that the child shall be protected from “any form of … corporal punishment and degrading and humiliating treatment”. Corporal punishment is defined in article 3(f):

“‘Corporal punishment’ is any form of punishment resorting to the use of force aimed to cause pain or suffering, even in the slightest extent, by parents, siblings, grandparents, legal representative, relative or any other person legally responsible for the child. Corporal punishment includes such forms as: beating, torturing, violent shaking, burning, slapping, kicking, pinching, scratching, biting, scolding, forced action and use of substances to cause physical and mental discomfort.”

This law came into effect in May 2011.

11 July 2012

In June EPOCH New Zealand posted a news item reporting that major churches in USA and Canada had come out in favour of ending physical punishment of children (United Methodist in USA and the United Church of Canada).  Another major church group in the USA has recently added its support. Recently delegates to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) narrowly passed a resolution calling for "an end to the practice of corporal punishment in homes, schools and child care facilities."

18 June 2012

Global Initiative Newsletter No 20 now available

The latest newsletter from the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children informs us that Curacao, a Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands – has achieved prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings – the 33^rd country to do so.

The newsletter also contains information on progress towards prohibition, campaigns in various countries, recent recommendations from human rights monitoring committees, international reports and research and media reports.

A research report provides new evidence of the impact of violence on young children.

A new study  shows that the effects of abuse in childhood can be physiological as well as psychological. The study released by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that MRI scans of the brains of people who had been subjected to maltreatment, including corporal punishment, had significantly less volume than expected in the hippocampus area of the brain, which is involved in memory and emotion. (Teicher, M. H. et al (2012), "Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced volume in the hippocampal subfields CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum",

A journal article by Brendan L. Smith of the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, looks at physical punishment of children in light of the growing body of evidence of the lasting harm it has on children. It notes that its use is slowly declining but many parents are not hearing the message. (Smith, B. L. (2012), "The case against spanking", American Psychologist, 43(4)).

7 June 2012

Some of EPOCH NZ’s earlier news items have reported the growing support for ending physical punishment of children in various parts of the world including Canada and the USA.   It is encouraging that there is now increasing public support for change from some major church groups in those countries.

At its General Conference in Pittsburgh in April and May, 2004, the United Methodist Church re-affirmed its position on physical punishment of children, calling for an end to corporal punishment in homes, schools and child-care. The United Methodist Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Policies have to be reauthorised periodically and the policy on physical punishment in schools was strengthened.

A recent article published by the journal of the United Church of Canada supports its public stance against physical punishment.  The article discusses other indications of a growing trend away from physical punishment.