“The principal of XXXXX College, Kurunegala was arrested for allegedly scolding a girl over a Facebook photo that led to her suicide.”
“The police have been directed by Sabaragamuwa Province Chief Minister Mahipala Herath to conduct an immediate investigation into the death of a student from XXXX Vidyalaya in Dedigama, as the student had allegedly committed suicide after being punished severely by the principal.”
“A teenage girl in Colombo commits suicide after allegedly being beaten by her father due to a love affair.”
“A Class IX student of the XXXX School and College in Bangladesh committed suicide at her Shantinagar residence on Monday, allegedly due to humiliation by her teachers.”
These are some news reports from Sri Lanka and abroad in the recent past. Unnecessary tragedies and crimes against children are due to false perceptions and inhuman actions by those who have authority over children.
Even though a certain cross-section of people across Sri Lanka seems to be of the view that some form of corporal punishment at home or in school is acceptable, it was supposedly not the accepted norm in ancient times.
Donovan Moldrich who has studied the Sri Lankan scenario, says in his book, Somewhere a child is crying: A plea for the abolition of corporal punishment of children and adults that King Vijayabahu II (1186 - 1187) and King Vijayabahu III (1232 - 1236) were credited for their compassion towards children. Those children beaten by their parents were asked to come to King Vijayabahu III and tell him of their woes, with the king then exhorting their parents not to beat them any longer.
With the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisation of Sri Lanka (1505-1948), certain aspects of ancient Sri Lankan culture, including its parenting practices, were replaced by thought, speech and behaviour practised by these colonial powers. Though these new practices may have been initially thrust on Sri Lankans by the force of law, or by way of violence, with time, it may have pervaded the deeper fabric of Sri Lankan society. Therefore, the use of corporal punishment in parenting, though considered contrary to cultural values in ancient Sri Lanka, may have been accepted as a normative aspect of parenting later on.
According to Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, Community Physician and Sarvodaya Movement President, the UNCRC (UN Convention of the Rights of the Child), corporal punishment is defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.” The committee also recognises that there are other non-physical forms of punishment which belittle, humiliate, denigrate, make children scapegoats, or threaten, scare or ridicule them.
It is well established that child maltreatment such as physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, physical and emotional neglect is associated with adult mental disorders. A study conducted in the US has shown that harsh physical punishment is associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse or dependence and personality disorders later in life. These findings inform the ongoing debate around the world on physical punishment and provide evidence that harsh punishment is related to mental disorders.
Canadian researchers dug through 20 years of published research and found that spanking fails to change a child’s behaviour which can cause long-term damage. Their research showed that children who were spanked, manifested different psychiatric disorders as adults. In Sri Lanka, there have been a few studies on corporal punishment and physical abuse. The most detailed study was by De Zoysa, Newcombe, and Rajapakse in 2008, on 12-year-old Sinhala-speaking schoolchildren. It reported a high prevalence and frequency of corporal punishment.
Following the 2005 regional consultation on the UN study on violence against children, Sri Lanka expressed its commitment to prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, including in the home, at the July 2006 meeting of the South Asia Forum; this was reiterated during the Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka in 2017. However, we still have some way to go as on and off there are news reports of tragic endings of corporal punishment.
There are certain laws in Sri Lanka that address corporal punishment, but with much ambiguity and with several loopholes.
Article 82 of the Penal Code states, “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under twelve years of age, or of unsound mind, by or by consent, either express or implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause or be known by the doer be likely to cause, to that person….” of the offence of “criminal force.” Article 341 states that a schoolmaster who flogs students is not using force illegally. Article 71(6) of the Children and Young Persons’ Ordinance 1939 recognises “the right of any parent, teacher or other person having lawful control or charge of a child… to administer punishment to him.”
A National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 2011-2016 (NAPHR) was approved by the Cabinet and its implementation strategy was approved in 2011. The NAPHR 2011-2016 Goal No. 7.5 is the elimination of corporal punishment in schools. The activities envisaged are as follows:
* Effectively implement effectively existing legislation or policy or circulars prohibiting corporal punishment and establish a reporting procedure so that instances of corporal punishment can be reported efficiently.
* Enact and enforce legislation to prohibit corporal punishment in schools and educational institutions.
* Create awareness among parents, teachers and principals on the law and on alternate forms of discipline consistent with the dignity of the child.
* Establish a grievance mechanism to report corporal punishment.
* Conduct periodic surveys on the incidence of corporal punishment to ascertain statistics on corporal punishment.
The acceptance of corporal punishment in childrearing by a majority of people in the country necessitates clarity in law that no level of corporal punishment is acceptable or lawful. These provisions should be repealed and new provisions should be enacted to prohibit of all corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment, in the home and all other settings where adults have authority over children.
The College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka has recruited the staff to advocate, educate and highlight the barbarism of corporal punishment. They are also lobbying the authorities that the instruction by Circular No. 12/2016 not to use corporal punishment in schools should be confirmed through the enactment of legislation clearly prohibiting all corporal punishment in all education settings, as well as explicit repeal of the Criminal Code provision on criminal force in relation to flogging of students (Article 341) and the right of teachers “to administer punishment” in the Children and Young Persons Ordinance 1939 (Article 71(6)). They have a wide range of consultations with political leaders, consultants, NGOs, parent groups, schools and other relevant groups. Currently, they have also developed posters in all three languages to be distributed among all stakeholders including schools.
“As a pathfinder country for the global partnerships to end violence against children with the aim of making substantial progress on Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 concerning violence against children, Sri Lanka will come under increasing pressure to address corporal punishment , including by enacting and implementing laws that send a clear message that violent punishment of children is no longer acceptable,” Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne said.
“Further, corporal punishment is a clear violation of human rights, and the state should also consider its financial cost such as provision of health and mental health services for those who suffer later in life, the overburdening of social services, police activities, and lower productivity later in life that will impact the whole nation. But more than anything else, let’s join together to protect our children,” Dr. Ariyaratne said.
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