Briefing on Paraguay for the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 8th session September 2012

From Sharon Owen, Research Coordinator, Global Initiative info@endcorporalpunishment.org The right of children with disabilities not to be subjected to corporal punishment
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities confirms that children with disabilities should enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children (art. 7). The Convention also states that all persons have the rights to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15), to freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse within and outside the home (art. 16) and to respect for their physical and mental integrity (art. 17). The jurisprudence of treaty monitoring bodies, led by the Committee on the Rights of the Child monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is clear that these rights put an obligation on states parties to prohibit and eliminate all corporal punishment of children, including within the family. As confirmed in the UN Secretary Generals Study on Violence against Children, children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to violence, including corporal punishment, and corporal punishment is a significant cause of disability among children.1 In examining implementation of the Convention, we hope the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will emphasise that children with disabilities should be protected by law from corporal punishment violence inflicted in the name of discipline or punishment in all settings, including the home, schools and other institutions.

Pinheiro, P. S. (2006), World Report on Violence against Children, Geneva: United Nations. See also Krug E. G. et al (eds) (2002), World Report on Violence and Health, Geneva: World Health Organisation. Further information is available from the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, www.endcorporalpunishment.org, email info@endcorporalpunishment.org

This briefing describes the legality and practice of corporal punishment of children in Paraguay. In light of the particular vulnerability of children with disabilities to corporal punishment by adults, the jurisprudence of the UN treaty bodies, and the importance of eradicating this form of violence given by the UN Secretary Generals Study on Violence against Children, w e hope the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will: include the issue of corporal punishment in its List of Issues for Paraguay, in particular asking what steps have been taken to ensure that corporal punishment of children is explicitly prohibited in law; urge the Government of Paraguay, in its concluding observations on the initial report, to ensure that legislation explicitly prohibits corporal punishment in the home, schools (mainstream and segregated) and all other settings and that awareness raising campaigns, the promotion of positive, non-violent discipline and other measures are taken to fully implement the prohibition.

1 Paraguays initial report (CRPD/C/PRY/1) and the issue of corporal punishment

1.1 Paraguays initial report briefly refers to measures taken with regard to violence against persons with disabilities, including domestic violence, but makes no mention of corporal punishment, the violence that may be lawfully inflicted on disabled children in the guise of discipline. Corporal punishment in Paraguay is unlawful as a sentence for crime and as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions and in some care settings, but it is not explicitly prohibited in the home, schools and other forms of care. 1.2 While we have been unable to identify research specifically related to children with disabilities, other research shows a widespread use of corporal punishment of children in homes and schools.

2 Corporal punishment of children in Paraguay

2.1 Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. There appears to be no confirmation in legislation of a right of correction for parents but provisions against violence and abuse in the Constitution (1992), the Children and Adolescents Code (2001), the Criminal Code (1998) and the Law Against Domestic Violence (2000) are not interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment in childrearing. Children are legally protected only from corporal punishment which is considered to cause harm or injury (Children and Adolescents Code, articles 72 and 73; Penal Code, articles 112 and 134). 2.2 Research has revealed the widespread approval and use of corporal punishment in childrearing. A 2010 UNICEF study found that 61% had experienced violence or other kinds of mistreatment from their closest family
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members. The study, the first of its kind in Paraguay, involved over 800 children and young people aged 10-18, attending 54 private and public schools in different areas of the country. One in three (35%) had experienced severe physical violence (being hit with objects, kicked, burned or suffocated) in their families; 13% had experienced light physical violence (including slaps, having their hair pulled and being forced to stay in uncomfortable positions); 13% had experienced psychological violence such as insults and threats of abandonment. The physical violence had serious consequences, with 13% reporting being hit until they bled and 7.7% needing medical attention. More than half said they began to experience family violence between the ages of 3 and 5. Boys experienced more severe physical violence than girls, while girls experienced more psychological violence than boys. Physical and psychological violence was experienced by children of all social classes, although children at public and subsidised schools experienced more physical violence than children in private schools, while children in private schools experienced more psychological violence than their publicly schooled peers.2 2.3 There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in schools. A number of laws protect students dignity, including the Children and Adolescents Code (articles 21, 22 and 114) and the General Education Law (1998) (article 125), but there is no prohibition of corporal punishment. 2.4 In the penal system, corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime: the Constitution prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (article 5) and there is no provision for judicial corporal punishment in the Criminal Code or the Code of Criminal Procedure (1998). Justice for indigenous peoples under customary law must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution. Corporal punishment is explicitly prohibited as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions in article 245 of the Children and Adolescents Code. 2.5 With regard to alternative care settings, corporal punishment is prohibited in shelter homes under articles 21 and 28 of the Enabling Regulations for the operation of shelter homes for children and adolescents in the special protection system (2006) under the Children and Adolescents Code. There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in other forms of care.

3 Current opportunities for achieving law reform to prohibit corporal punishment

3.1 A bill has been drafted which would prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, and is being promoted by representatives from civil society and public institutions in a national working group established for the purpose in 2011. As at December 2011, the draft was being reviewed and plans were being made with the aim of ensuring adoption of the law in 2012.

UNICEF (2010), Resumen Para Prensa: Estudio sobre maltrato infantil en el mbito familiar, Paraguay 2010

4 Recommendations by human rights treaty monitoring bodies

4.1 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has twice recommended that corporal punishment of children be explicitly prohibited in all settings in Peru, including the home in its concluding observations on the second report in 2001 (CRC/C/15/Add.166, paras. 31 and 32) and on the third report in 2010 (CRC/C/PRY/CO/3, paras. 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39). 4.2 In 2011, the Committee Against Torture expressed concern that corporal punishment is not prohibited in homes in Paraguay and recommended explicit prohibition in all settings, including the home (CRC/C/PRY/4-6, Concluding observations on fourth-sixth report, para. 26).
Briefing prepared by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children www.endcorporalpunishment.org; info@endcorporalpunishment.org July 2012