Corporal punishment ban secured in Spain

Children participating in a child rights workshop organised by Plan Spain

4 March 2008: Children in Spain have won legal protection from all forms of corporal punishment following intense lobbying by Plan Spain.

As part of the Children’s Organisation Platform, Plan Spain pressed the Spanish High Court to defend child rights and ban corporal punishment, which is incompatible with the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Spain now joins just 23 countries worldwide in protecting children by law from all forms of corporal punishment.

Learn Without Fear

Ending violence against children in schools – including corporal punishment, sexual violence and bullying - is the goal of Plan’s new global campaign Learn Without Fear, which will be launched later this year.

The ban is a strong starting point for the campaign in Spain – but much work still needs to be done. According to a national study by the Centre for Sociological Research, 58.9% of Spaniards felt that hitting a child is sometimes inevitable.

Changing attitudes

Letizia Gimenez, Plan Spain’s grants manager and advocacy director, said: “Now, it is our responsibility to enforce this law. In order to protect children, we need to translate this law into attitudinal and behavioural change amongst adults, children and young people.

“Throughout society we need to learn that all relationships should be free from violence and intimidation.

“With a recent dramatic increase in reporting of bullying and raised social concern, the pursuit of Plan’s Learn Without Fear campaign is very timely for Spain.”

Plan Spain recently met the main presidential candidates ahead of the national elections on 9 March to discuss their plans for protecting children and implementing the new law.

In November, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela also banned all forms of corporal punishment – raising hopes that other countries in the Americas will also follow suit.

Find out more about Plan’s Learn Without Fear campaign

Visit the Plan Spain website