Women Say the Law Should Protect Children from Being Hit
21 March 2002
Women support changing the law to give children protection from being hit even more enthusiastically than men, according to a survey from children's charity the NSPCC.
The NSPCC commissioned MORI Telephone Surveys Ltd to conduct research in February with a representative sample of 914 adults in England and Wales.
The survey found that 63 per cent of women (versus 53 per cent of men) in England and Wales would support a law to protect children from being hit provided that parents are not be prosecuted for 'trivial smacks'. In fact, on every question, women were more positive about law reform than their male counterparts.
Last November, the Government was criticised heavily by children's campaigners for not changing the law following a Department of Health consultation.
By contrast, the Scottish Parliament will soon discuss reforms to prohibit hitting under three year olds and to stop the use of implements, shaking and blows to the head for all children. Reform proposals are also expected in Northern Ireland later this year.
The NSPCC survey found overwhelming support for such reforms among women in England and Wales:
98 per cent of women say parents should not be allowed to physically punish babies (up to 18 months).
78 per cent of women say parents should not be allowed to physically punish toddlers (under three).
99 per cent of women say parents should not be allowed to use implements to punish children.
98 per cent of women say parents should not be allowed to hit children around the head.
In addition, the survey found that support for law reform is strong in the post-war generations and in households with two or more children.
NSPCC Director Mary Marsh said: "Our research shows that most people, but especially women, understand that law reform would be about helping us all protect children more effectively, rather than about the state meddling in family life. The Government should listen to women's views and rethink its policy of inaction, particularly as it is women who still tend to be the primary child carers in the family."
Advice columnist Dr Miriam Stoppard said: "It's good to see women taking a lead on this issue. Punishing children by hitting them has no place in child rearing, and the law should say so."
For further information journalists only contact NSPCC media office on 0207 825 2714 or 0208 671 2911 (out of hours).
Notes to editors A summary of the NSPCC survey is available from the NSPCC media office.
The NSPCC is part of the Children Are Unbeatable! Alliance, which brings together more than 350 organisations to campaign for equal legal protection for children. The Alliance is supported by Dr Miriam Stoppard, Joan Bakewell, Mariella Frostrup, Jerry Hall, Glenys Kinnock MEP, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Fiona Phillips, Claire Rayner, Ruby Wax and many others.
Children are protected from being hit by law in Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia and Israel. The most recent country to ban physical punishment was Germany in 2000 and the first was Sweden in 1979.
In November 2001, the Government responded to the Department of Health consultation Protecting children, Supporting parents, which followed a European Court ruling that the law did not protect children adequately. According to the Government's own press statement (8/11/01), "nearly all" of the child protection and welfare organisations which submitted evidence to the consultation supported law reform. However, it announced that the law would not be changed and that the 1860 judicial defence of 'reasonable chastisement' would remain in England and Wales, where the Human Rights Act has been in force since October 2000.
The Scottish Executive will introduce a Bill to the Scottish Parliament, which will include its proposed reforms on the physical punishment of children, in the Spring.
Reform proposals are also expected this year in Northern Ireland where Ministers have said that "no change is not an option". The consultation conducted by the Office of Law Reform
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