This week the news that France has been warned by the Council of Europe for the lack of an explicit and effective prohibition of all types of corporal punishment of children, thus violating the European Social Charter.
Despite the fact that after this warning France is exposed to a condemnation of the European Court of Human Rights, the galas authorities say they do not need specific regulations but to achieve a social consensus to achieve an education without violence.
And, they say, they are against physical punishment and, although it may not be so easy to change the laws of a country, I wonder if they are against it, Why not legislate? That there is no legal loophole through which a beating, a slap, a cheek can escape.
They ensure that current regulations already provide adequate sanctions against abuse and what is missing is adult education and training. Surely, there is still a great lack of social awareness, but this unfortunately also happens in countries where child abuse is expressly prohibited, as in Spain.
AdvertisingAt first I did not know that this legislation existed since 2007, but today many people still do not know that cheeks, slaps, are prohibited.
In France, according to a recent study, 82% of citizens are opposed to banning children from being scourged, and the number of people who confess to hitting a child is 67%. However, it should be remembered that the figures of child abuse are often hidden and unfortunately in the world there are many children who have received some type of corporal punishment.
On this occasion "it has touched" France because of a complaint, but there are many other countries that are part of the European Council that still do not prohibit corporal punishment of children.
The warning to France has its origin in a complaint by the British NGO Approach (Association for the Protection of Children) presented two years ago. The organization recalls that the French judges have assumed in different sentences that there is the "right to correct" children with physical punishment, provided that the abuse is of low intensity and that an educational purpose is pursued.
But where is the limit? What is that of "low intensity"? If there is no blood or bruise, is it not mistreatment? Does it depend on whether the hand or a strap is used? And they have not learned that physical punishment is not an educational method?
Anyway, that there are no half measures in these matters and I hope that finally both France and other countries where physical punishment is not expressly prohibited (and they are the majority) there is a change for the good of the children, not as a favor but simply because they are people with rights.
