Greece
01.01.04
Events
Complaints on corporal punishment against children in Europe
- Event Date: 01.01.04
- Event Time: 00:00:00
OMCT aims at mainstreaming children’s rights in regional human rights mechanisms.
OMCT has submitted formal complaints to the European Committee of Social Rights in Strasbourg against five European countries which have not prohibited all corporal punishment of children, including in the family.
The European Committee of Social Rights is established to monitor compliance with the European Social Charter and Revised Social Charter. In 2001, the Committee issued a general observation that compliance with article 17 of the Charters requires “a prohibition in legislation against any form of violence against children, whether at school, in other institutions, in their home or elsewhere”. The Committee also stated that it considers that “any other form of degrading punishment or treatment of children must be prohibited in legislation and combined with adequate sanctions in penal or civil law.” The complaints against the five countries – Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Belgium – allege that they are not complying with article 17 of the Charters because they have not prohibited all corporal punishment and humiliating treatment. The five countries are among 13 of the 45 member-states of the Council of Europe which have so far accepted the procedure allowing “collective complaints” (under an Optional Protocol to the Social Charter).
At least 10 of the 45 member-states of the Council of Europe have expressly prohibited all corporal punishment of children, including in the family (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden)
For full details of the European Social Charter, the European Committee of Social Rights and the procedure, click here.
OMCT hopes that this action will speed up the process of protecting children throughout Europe from currently legalised violence. As the European Committee of Social Rights has stated: “The Committee does not find it acceptable that a society which prohibits any form of physical violence between adults would accept that adults subject children to physical violence.”
OMCT wishes to thank for their extensive research and/or support:
Irene Fereti of the Institute of Child Health, and Nina Angelopoulou, Athens, Greece - Claude Lelièvre, Délégué Général aux Droits de l'Enfant and Ankie Vandekerckhove, Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Flemish Parliament, Brussels, Belgium - The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), London, UK - The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), Dublin, Ireland - Vera Helena de Moraes Dantas and Ricardo Soares Domingos of the law firm of Noronha e Associados (Sociedade de Advogados, Av. Eng. Duarte Pacheco, torre 2, piso
6, sala 3, 1070-102 Lisbon) - and many others.
For more information on corporal punishment see www.endcorporalpunishment.org
OMCT has submitted formal complaints to the European Committee of Social Rights in Strasbourg against five European countries which have not prohibited all corporal punishment of children, including in the family.
The European Committee of Social Rights is established to monitor compliance with the European Social Charter and Revised Social Charter. In 2001, the Committee issued a general observation that compliance with article 17 of the Charters requires “a prohibition in legislation against any form of violence against children, whether at school, in other institutions, in their home or elsewhere”. The Committee also stated that it considers that “any other form of degrading punishment or treatment of children must be prohibited in legislation and combined with adequate sanctions in penal or civil law.” The complaints against the five countries – Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Belgium – allege that they are not complying with article 17 of the Charters because they have not prohibited all corporal punishment and humiliating treatment. The five countries are among 13 of the 45 member-states of the Council of Europe which have so far accepted the procedure allowing “collective complaints” (under an Optional Protocol to the Social Charter).
At least 10 of the 45 member-states of the Council of Europe have expressly prohibited all corporal punishment of children, including in the family (Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden)
For full details of the European Social Charter, the European Committee of Social Rights and the procedure, click here.
OMCT hopes that this action will speed up the process of protecting children throughout Europe from currently legalised violence. As the European Committee of Social Rights has stated: “The Committee does not find it acceptable that a society which prohibits any form of physical violence between adults would accept that adults subject children to physical violence.”
OMCT wishes to thank for their extensive research and/or support:
Irene Fereti of the Institute of Child Health, and Nina Angelopoulou, Athens, Greece - Claude Lelièvre, Délégué Général aux Droits de l'Enfant and Ankie Vandekerckhove, Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Flemish Parliament, Brussels, Belgium - The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), London, UK - The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), Dublin, Ireland - Vera Helena de Moraes Dantas and Ricardo Soares Domingos of the law firm of Noronha e Associados (Sociedade de Advogados, Av. Eng. Duarte Pacheco, torre 2, piso
6, sala 3, 1070-102 Lisbon) - and many others.
For more information on corporal punishment see www.endcorporalpunishment.org