The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has warned that both short-term and long-term physical and psychological punishment can harm a child’s personality development.

Issuing a message to mark the International Day to End Corporal Punishment, Chairperson Preethi Inoka Ranasinghe said research has clearly demonstrated the damaging effects of corporal punishment.

She noted that while such practices have long been socially accepted in homes and schools, they violate children’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Sri Lanka has been a party since 1990.

The NCPA also highlighted that Article 11 of the Constitution guarantees protection from cruel and degrading treatment, while laws such as Section 308 (A) of the Penal Code and Education Ministry circulars prohibit physical and psychological punishment.

The authority stressed that corporal punishment constitutes abuse and should not be used under any circumstances, noting that complaints related to physical violence are the second most reported category, with around 2,000 to 2,500 cases recorded annually.