ADOPTING LEGISLATION PROHIBITING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT  “ 1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.” Article 2 UN Convention against Torture A solid legal basis is essential to clarify the law and is recommended to remove any justification for and permission of corporal punishment. Sweden: An educational rather than punitive approach to the legal prohibition In 1979, Sweden became the first country to fully ban corporal punishment. The debates and reforms that led to the prohibition took place over a period of 50 years. In 1957 the Penal Code provision that protected parents from physical assault charges in disciplinary cases was removed. This was extremely significant because, for the first time, children received the same legal protection from assault as adults. In 1977, the Government appointed a Commission on Children’s Rights with the objective of reviewing and modifying the Parents Code, to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment. The proposal was supported by 98% of Parliamentary members and was enacted by Parliament in 1979. The fact that the ban added no criminal penalties for assault beyond those already in place in the Penal Code was key to receive such a high percentage of support in Parliament. This reform was aimed at educating the Swedish public on the need to use non-violent strategies to discipline children, rather than as a tool for prosecuting parents. Turkmenistan: Protection of the dignity of the child central in the reason of the prohibition Turkmenistan prohibited corporal punishment in 2002. Article 24 of the Law on Guarantees of the Rights of the Child states that “humiliation of the dignity of the child, corporal punishment, other physical abuse harmful for the child’s mental or physical health are inadmissible.” Moreover, the Family Code of 2012 states in article 85.2) that “humiliation of the dignity of the child, intimidation, corporal punishment, other physical abuse harmful for the child’s mental or physical health are inadmissible.” Greece: Prohibition after a resolution of an intergovernmental institution In Greece, the prohibition of corporal punishment was achieved in 2006 following a resolution by the European Committee of Social Rights. In the resolution, the Committee found that Greece was violating article 17 of the European Social Charter (on right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection) due to the absence of an explicit legal prohibition of corporal punishment of children in the home, secondary schools and other childcare institutions. TOOL: Positive Discipline and Alternatives to Corporal Punishment of Children 13/15