violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

The Swedish experience with prohibition ofcorporal punishmentSweden was the first State to prohibit all corporal punishment. In 1957, a provision wasremoved from the Criminal Code which excused parents who caused minor injuries inthe course of ‘discipline’. In 1979, Sweden explicitly prohibited corporal punishmentin its Parenthood and Guardianship Code: “Children … may not be subjected to corporalpunishment or any other humiliating treatment.”76Violence against children in the home and familySweden’s experience shows that when progressive law reform is linked to comprehensivepublic education, substantial changes in attitude and reductions in violence againstchildren can be achieved within decades. In 2000, a parliamentary committee enquiredinto the experiences of parents and children with corporal punishment since the ban.The data indicate that its use has decreased dramatically, particularly in relation to beatingchildren with fists or with an implement, or ‘spanking’ them. In national parentalstudies in 1980, 51% of parents said that they had used corporal punishment during theprevious year; 20 years later, in 2000, this figure had decreased to 8%. 174factors and strengthen protective factors. Factorssuch as alcohol availability, family planningservices, pre- and post-natal care, socialsecurity, mental health and substance abusetreatment, birth, death and marriage registration,and levels of environmental toxins arejust a few examples of important factors thatare sensitive to legal and policy reform.Prevention strategiesWhat many do not realise, but which researchcontinues to show, is that a variety of interventionscan prevent violence: violence againstchildren in the home and family setting canbe reduced significantly by the implementationof laws, policies and programmes whichstrengthen and support families, and thataddress the underlying community and societalfactors that allow violence to thrive.To maximise effectiveness, prevention strategiesshould be based on the best available scientificevidence, aim to reduce factors contributing torisk and strengthen protective factors, includemechanisms for evaluating the impact of thestrategy, and be carried out within a broaderframework for addressing violence against children.Promising strategies to prevent violenceagainst children in the home and family contextare many and varied, ranging from programmeswith a direct impact, such as parentingtraining, to policies with a more indirectimpact, such as those governing alcohol availabilityor access to family planning services.