The physical punishment of children is now outlawed in Wales. Any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, has been made illegal in the country from Monday.
The “smacking ban”, as it is known, was brought in under the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 and marks the end of the common law defence of “reasonable punishment”. It means children will get the same protection from assault as adults, and the law will apply to everyone, even those visiting Wales – as is the case with all Welsh laws.
Parents or anyone who is responsible for a child while the parents are absent can now face criminal or civil charges if they are found to have physically disciplined a young person in any way. Critics of the law change have said it will criminalise parents, but the Welsh Government has insisted the move is about protecting children’s rights.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from being hurt and this includes physical punishment. That right is now enshrined in Welsh law. No more grey areas. No more ‘defence of reasonable punishment’. That is all in the past. There is no place for physical punishment in a modern Wales.”
Wales joins more than 60 nations worldwide in legislating against the physical punishment of children. Scotland introduced its own ban in November 2020.
Previously in Wales, and as is still the case in England and Northern Ireland, smacking a child was unlawful, but such an assault was allowed as long as it constituted “reasonable punishment”. Whether the defence was accepted depended on the circumstances of each case, taking into consideration factors such as the age of the child and the nature of the contact, including whether it left a red mark or was carried out with a fist or implement such as a cane or belt.
Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan called the day a “historic moment for children and their rights in Wales”. Viv Laing, from NSPCC Cymru Wales, said: “Until now, children were the only group in our society who it was acceptable to strike in certain circumstances.
"We don’t allow the physical punishment of adults or animals, so it is absurd that we have for so long with children. NSPCC Cymru/Wales has long been clear on this, and now, at last, the law is too.”
Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Wales, Dr Rowena Christmas, said: “The evidence is absolutely compelling that physically punishing a child can be harmful to the wellbeing of both child and parent. It offers no benefit that cannot be gained from another method of discipline but is associated with a broad range of harms that can last a lifetime.”
Stephen Thomas, headteacher of Ysgol y Bryn Llanelli, said: “Physical punishment has no place in raising children. Providing consistency, good routines and being role models for our children in the values we would like them to display creates good people.”
Also supporting the new law, Pam Kelly, Chief Constable of Gwent Police, said: “Our role as police officers, while working with other safeguarding agencies in Wales, is to provide support and reassurance to families, not to criminalise them. However it is important to recognise that discipline and physical punishment of children are not the same thing.”
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