• Complete prohibition yet not achieved in homes, alternative care settings, day care settings, schools, penal institutions 

All-round non-violence to children will only be a reality when Sections 82 and 341 of the Penal Code, which authorise the use of corporal punishment (the former provides for acts done in good faith for the benefit of a child by or by consent of a guardian, and the latter deals with criminal force), are repealed. 

This is recommended in the context of the complete prohibition of corporal punishment yet not being achieved in the homes, alternative care settings (foster care, institutions, places of safety, emergency care, etc.), day care settings (nurseries, crèches, preschools, family centres, etc.), schools and penal institutions of present-day Sri Lanka. 

These observations and recommendations were made in an editorial on the ‘Corporal punishment of children’ which was authored by the Joint-Editor of the Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, specialist consultant paediatrician with full-time duties at the College of Paediatricians, Dr. G.N. Lucas, and published in the said Journal's 54th Volume's Second Issue, this month. 

Corporal, physical, or bodily punishment is defined by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child as: “Any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.” According to the said committee, while this mostly involves hitting (smacking, slapping, spanking) children with a hand or implement (whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc.) it can also involve kicking, shaking or throwing children, scratching, pinching, biting, the pulling of hair, the boxing of the ears, forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions, burning, scalding or forced ingestion (the World Health Organisation's ‘Corporal punishment and health’).

Corporal punishment is highly prevalent globally, both in homes and schools. Around 60% of children aged 2-14 years regularly suffer physical punishment from their parents or other caregivers. In some countries, almost all students report being physically punished by school staff. The risk of being physically punished is similar for boys and girls and for children from wealthy and poor households. Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, children aged two-four years are as likely as children aged 5-14 years to be exposed to physical punishment. Physical disciplinary methods are used even with very young children, with comparable surveys conducted in 29 countries showing that three in 10 children aged one-two years are subjected to spanking.

J. Durrant and R. Ensom's ‘Physical punishment of children: Lessons from 20 years of research’, E.T. Gershoff and A. Grogan-Kaylor's ‘Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses’ and A. Heilmann, Y. Kelly and R.G. Watt's ‘Equally protected? A review of the evidence on the physical punishment of children’ show links between corporal punishment and a wide range of negative outcomes, both immediate and long-term. These include: Direct physical harm, sometimes resulting in severe damage, long-term disability or death; mental ill-health, including behavioural and anxiety disorders, depression, hopelessness, low self-esteem, self-harm and suicide attempts, alcohol and drug or substance dependency, and hostility and emotional instability, which continue into adulthood; impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development, specifically emotion regulation and conflict solving skills; damage to education, including school dropouts and lower academic and occupational success; poor moral internalisation and increased antisocial behaviour; increased aggression in children; violent, antisocial and criminal behaviour on growing up into adulthood; indirect physical harm due to overloaded biological systems, including developing cancer, alcohol-related problems, migraine, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and obesity that continue into adulthood; increased acceptance and use of other forms of violence; and damaged family relationships.

The INSPIRE technical package presents several effective and promising interventions: The implementation and enforcement of laws to prohibit physical punishment. Such laws ensure that children are equally protected under the law as much as adults on assault and serve an educational rather than punitive function, aiming to increase awareness, shift attitudes towards non-violent child-rearing and clarifying the responsibilities of parents in their care-giving roles; norms and values- based programmes to transform harmful social norms around child-rearing and child discipline; parent and caregiver support through information and skill-building sessions to develop nurturing, as well as non-violent parenting; education and life skills-based interventions to build a positive school climate and violence-free environment, and strengthening relationships between students, teachers and administrators; and response and support services for early recognition and the care of child victims and families to help reduce the recurrence of violent discipline and to lessen its consequences.

The earlier that such interventions are imposed in children's lives, the greater the benefits to the child (e.g., cognitive development, behavioural and social competence, and educational attainment) and to the society (e.g., reduced delinquency and crime). In 2015, with the adoption of the sustainable developmental goals (SDGs), the world made a commitment to end violence against children (SDG target 16.2) by 2030.

In Sri Lanka, corporal punishment is lawful in the home. The Penal Code of 1883 was amended in 1995 to provide for the offence of cruelty to children (Section 308A, amended further in 2006), but, Section 82 of the Code states: “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 offence by reason 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….” Illustration (i) of the offence of “criminal force” (Section 341) states that a schoolmaster who flogs a student is not using force illegally. However, the Corporal Punishment (Repeal) Act, No. 23 of 2005, omitted the sentence of whipping. Provisions against violence and abuse in the Children’s Charter of 1994, the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Act of 1994, the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 2005 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act of 2007 are not interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment of children (Corporal punishment of children in Sri Lanka).

In November 2022, with the enactment of the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Act, No. 39 of 2022, the Government repealed Section 71(6) of the Children and Young Persons Ordinance of 1939 which confirmed “the right of any parent, teacher or other person having lawful control or charge of a child … to administer punishment to him/her”. The Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Act, No. 39 of 2022 came into force on 1 January of last year (2024). However, Sections 82 and 341 of the Penal code which authorise the use of corporal punishment are still in force.

To mark the International Day to End Corporal Punishment in 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit corporal punishment in all spheres. During the Budget debate in March of this year, Justice Minister, attorney Harshana Nanayakkara told the Parliament: “We must ban corporal punishment for children. A Bill has already been drafted, and, as the Minister of Justice, I will take the necessary steps to present it to the Parliament as soon as possible.”

However, the Cabinet, on 9 June 2025, made two decisions related to the same, one to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act, No. 15 of 1979, with regard to Physical Punishments, and the other to amend the Penal Code (19th Authority), also on Physical Punishments. Cabinet approval had been granted on 29 April 2024 to amend the Act, No. 15 of 1979 to impose provisions to ban physical punishments causing physical injuries, in all sectors. Regarding the Penal Code amendment, the Cabinet described that "It has been scientifically proven that physical and mental injury caused to a child due to physical punishments is immense, and so to impose provisions to define penalties related to physical injury and to ban injuries from physical punishments in any sector".