Protecting children

Today, April 30, marks the International Day to End Corporal Punishment – bringing global attention to the widespread use of the most common form of violence against children.

Around the world 62 states have so far universalized the prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings, including the home, with a further 27 states committing to also enact full prohibition. Outside of the home, the prohibition of corporal punishment is much more widespread with 135 states prohibiting corporal punishment in schools.

The number of countries now universalizing the prohibition of corporal punishment is growing every month. The International Day to End Corporal Punishment seeks to accelerate this progress so that all children are protected from this violence.

Globally, there is a growing commitment to bring an end to corporal punishment once and for all. I am deeply concerned however that as our neighbors move towards prohibiting all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse against children we risk being left behind in Pakistan.

In the National Assembly, I have focused my efforts on prohibiting corporal punishment in schools and educational institutions as a first step towards eliminating all forms of corporal punishment.

A study by Unicef and Save the Children identified 43 types of punishment being used in schools in Pakistan, including smacking, kicking and beating with canes, belts, electric wires and other objects. This is in addition to psychological punishment which can be just as degrading and damaging to children.

The greatest hurdle so far to eliminating this violence in our schools has been the lack of legislation. This is why I introduced the Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, which sought to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all educational institutions of Islamabad.

After first being withheld for discussion for 15 months and then opposed by members of the ruling party, I built a bipartisan alliance in support of my Bill, working with members of the treasury and opposition benches and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, as well as musician and singer Shehzad Roy and his organization the Zindagi Trust.

In February of this year, my Private Members Bill returned to the National Assembly and passed with a majority of votes and no opposition from the treasury benches. My Bill now awaits passage in the Senate of Pakistan. The benefits of this new law will be wide-ranging: helping to protect children from harm, ensuring schools are safe places to learn and contributing to a more peaceful society.

The provision of legislation in other provinces remains patchy, however. In Punjab and Balochistan, there are still no laws to prohibit corporal punishment in schools and other settings.

Moreover, the passage of a new law is only a reference point. Beyond that, we have to continue to work systematically and repeatedly to change mindsets that legitimize corporal punishment – working with parents and teachers, including through national awareness campaigns and accountability mechanisms.

Where corporal punishment has been prohibited in other provinces its implementation is weak or in some cases non-existent. In 2017, the Sindh Assembly passed and promulgated the Sindh Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2016, which prohibits corporal punishment in workplaces, schools and other educational institutions. Yet the provincial government has failed to draft the legislation’s mandatory rules, meaning the law is yet to be implemented.

It is a similar story all over Pakistan. Both the Gilgit-Baltistan Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2015 and the Children’s Care and Protection Act 2016 covering Azad Jammu and Kashmir prohibit corporal punishment but the laws are not being enforced. Elsewhere, it is over a decade since the passage of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 and implementation still remains weak.

On this day, End Violence – a global fund and partnership with 500 partners committed to ending all forms of violence against children – are calling on all states to commit to accelerating the abolition of corporal punishment. By both committing to start the legislative process to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings by the end of 2022, and implementing a national plan that includes public education campaigns, positive parenting support, promotion of safe schools and communities, and professional training.

We need to see a new approach to ending corporal punishment and all forms of violence against children in Pakistan in line with this global movement. Our patchwork of protections for children across Pakistan is putting them at great harm.

This is not only a violation of children’s rights. The widespread social acceptance of corporal punishment and poor implementation normalizes a level of violence throughout childhood, entrenches children’s low status in society and paves the way for other forms of violence and exploitation.

It is more than 30 years since Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990. In that time, we have come a long way, but progress is now at a crossroads.

Pakistan is set to lose a larger share of students from the school system than any other country due to the effects of Covid-19, with close to a million children expected to drop out as a result of economic hardships experienced by their families. This is on top of the 22 million children who were already out of school; girls will be disproportionately affected. We can also expect to see a significant rise in child labor, teenage pregnancy, and early marriage.

None of this is inevitable. But we need more, and not less, investment in our children alongside a renewal of our commitment to child rights and to ending all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation against children. All over the world, other countries are doing this. We risk being left behind and it is the children of Pakistan who will pay the price.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly.

Twitter: @MehnazAkberAziz