Children are unbeatable!

An alliance of organisations and individuals seeking legal reform to give children the same protection under the law on assault as adults and promoting positive, non-violent discipline

For immediate release -

Children left unprotected and betrayed by Government inaction on "reasonable chastisement".

The Government’s decision to do nothing following its consultation on physical punishment leaves children unprotected and betrayed, says the Children are unbeatable! Alliance, responding to the Department of Health announcement (issued Thursday am by the Department of Health; available at www.doh.gov.uk). The decision to leave the law unchanged in England and Wales contrasts starkly with the protection to be offered to Scottish children.

The lack of action leaves the UK in breach of its human rights obligations and undermines child protection. Children are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society and yet they currently have less legal protection from assault than adults.

Rachel Hodgkin of the Children are unbeatable! Alliance comments:

?Children are unbeatable! is the largest alliance of children’s organisations ever formed over a single issue. Every one of its 300-plus organisations has reached the logical conclusion that the Government has failed to reach - which is that children should have the same protection as adults from being hit.

?The ‘non-proposals’ disclosed today do nothing for child protection and fall far short of what Scotland’s children are being offered. Telling courts they have to consider a list of obvious factors when deciding whether punishment is ‘reasonable’ changes nothing. The British jury in the case which went to the European Court considered all these factors and still found the beating of the boy by his stepfather ‘reasonable chastisement’. This is a matter on which the Government should be leading public opinion - not lagging far behind it. How can the Government go on defending a situation in which slapping another adult is a criminal offence, but if the victim is a baby or toddler it’s legal??

The Government suggests that the Human Rights Act now does all that is needed to protect children from violence. But since the Act has been in force, courts have continued to acquit parents who have hit and punched their children causing bruising and other injuries. The Government’s own opinion polls found an overwhelming majority of the public believe it should be illegal to smack under two year-olds; less than 10 per cent believe that parents should be allowed to use implements. The Alliance believes that the only just position the Government can take on physical punishment is to remove the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ completely to give children full protection. Such legislation should be accompanied by a national public education and awareness campaign, offering support for parents to help them find alternatives to violence in the home. The £145,000 the Government is offering the National Family and Parenting Institute is hardly going to transform the nation’s parenting. The Scottish Executive announced in September plans to ban all smacking of children in Scotland up to their third birthday and to ban shaking, use of implements and blows to the head for all children. These proposals will be included in a Criminal Justice Bill being presented to the Scottish Parliament early next year. A recent National Family and Parenting Institute poll found only one in five parents believe smacking is an effective way of teaching children the difference between right and wrong. The Alliance believes that children deserve the right to feel safe in their home, and that legislation to abolish physical punishment would help ensure this safety.

For further information, interviews and comment:
The Alliance Strategy Group includes Barnardo’s, EPOCH, the National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC and Save the Children UK. Contact numbers for press offices follow. The Alliance can also provide a range of spokespeople, including young people.

Save the Children's Press Office: 020 7716 2280 (direct); 07831 650 409 (out of office hours); Email address: press@scfuk.org.uk
Barnardo’s Press Office 020 8498 7555
National Children’s Bureau Press Office 020 7843 6045 (switchboard 020 7843 6000)
NSPCC Press Office 020 7825 2712/3/4
EPOCH Press Office 020 7700 0627

Notes to editors

• The Children are unbeatable! Alliance was formed to campaign to give children the same protection as adults under the law on assault and to promote positive, non-violent discipline. It includes over 300 child health, care, welfare, crime prevention and church organizations across the UK. They include four Royal Colleges of Health, Parentline, and the Methodist and United Reformed Churches. Over 400 prominent individuals including legal experts, journalists, childcare specialists and celebrities support the Alliance.
• Full lists of Alliance supporters and more detailed briefings on the Alliance objectives are available on request and on the Children are unbeatable! website at www.childrenareunbeatable.org.uk
• Alliance members have experience of working with children and parents across the U.K. and have produced a range of training and advice materials to support parents in living without smacking.
• Ten countries have banned all smacking – Germany and Israel were the most recent to take this step last year (details of the global campaign against all corporal punishment can be found at www.endcorporalpunishment.org).