In Bangladesh, corporal punishment, also known as physical punishment, continues to be a significant issue. It is commonly used in various settings, including homes, schools, and institutions, as a disciplinary method based on social norms and beliefs. However, this practice violates children's rights to dignity and protection from harm.
There have been numerous reports of severe physical abuse and even unintentional deaths caused by corporal punishment. Research in Bangladesh has shown that corporal punishment is widespread in schools, with caning, punching, and hitting with objects being commonly reported methods. Government schools tend to use corporal punishment more frequently than private schools. It is crucial to address this issue and promote alternative disciplinary approaches that prioritize the well-being of children.
The impacts of corporal punishment are indeed significant as it can cause physical injuries, such as fractures, and lead to life-threatening conditions. Additionally, it can also have long-term psychological effects, including anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, in children. Children who experience corporal punishment may also exhibit aggressive behaviour and have poor academic performance.
It's unfortunate to hear about your friend's experience and how it affected his life. Corporal punishment can indeed damage relationships and hinder personal growth. It's important to address this issue and promote alternative disciplinary methods that foster a positive and supportive learning environment.
It may sound ridiculous but corporal punishment is lawful in the home, day care, and Alternative care settings of our country's laws. Article 89 of the Penal Code 1860 states that: “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under 12 years of age, or of unsound mind by or by consent, either express or implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offense because of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause or be known by the doer to be likely to cause to that person.”
However, in 2011, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh called for the prohibition of corporal punishment in the home and supervised the government to consider amending the Children Act 1974 to make it an offense for parents and also employers to impose corporal punishment on children.
The Children Act 2013, which repeals the Children Act 1974, failed to fulfil this. It includes the offense of child cruelty (article 70), punishing “any person having the custody, charge or care of any child [who] assaults, abuses, neglects, forsakes, abandons unprotected, uses for personal services, or exposes in an obscene way such child and such assault, abuse, negligence, forsaking, abandonment, or the use in personal service causes unnecessary suffering or such injury to his health that it leads to loss of the child's eyesight or hearing or injury to any of limb or organ of the body and any mental derangement” -- but it does not prohibit all corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment is unlawful in schools according to a Supreme Court judgment issued on January 13, 2011, which declared that it violated the Constitutional right. The government of Bangladesh prohibited all types of punishment in educational institutions, calling it “cruel, inhumane, and humiliating.” The order covers all schools, including madrasas.
The judgment obeyed a writ petition filed in July 2010 by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Ain o Salish Kendra with the High Court in Dhaka, as an outcome of which the Ministry of Education published a circular stating that corporal punishment is prohibited in schools, that it includes misconduct, and that measures will be taken against perpetrators under the Penal Code, the Children Act and through departmental actions.
They are also liable under tort law (battery, negligence, and also strict liability).
It's true that Bangladesh's efforts to reduce corporal punishment have paid dividends, but it is nevertheless still being carried out in a variety of situations and settings. It is essential that the government, our educational institutions, and society-at-large work towards ending this cruel practice once and for all. They need to work together and educate interested parties, and promote alternative forms of punishment that value the rights and well-being, both physical and mental, of children.
Shrabani Paul is a freelance contributor.
