Celebrating “Our Children” on International Day to End Corporal Punishment

MARKING the International Day to End Corporal Punishment, the Stop Child Cruelty Trust (SCC) and the Child Protection Alliance (CPA) organised "Our Children", a compelling advocacy initiative to combat violence against children in Sri Lanka.

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The event featured an expert forum on child protection strategies and celebrated the winners of the “Me Unhurt - Stop Child Abuse” art competition, amplifying youth voices in the fight for their rights.

In February 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that ending corporal punishment was a public health priority. Each year, 1.8 million children worldwide are subjected to corporal punishment. In some countries, violence against children costs up to six times what is invested in health. Countries that have enacted comprehensive prohibitions against corporal punishment are granting children the same protective legal framework against assault as adults.

In March 2025, forty countries made the first-ever joint statement on corporal punishment to the Human Rights Council, declaring that ending corporal punishment is a human rights priority for children. Children have the fundamental right to protection from all forms of violence. This right is essential for their well-being, safety, survival and development. It recognises the severe and lasting consequences of violence against children, not just for the individual child but for society as a whole.

Despite being recognised in 2017 as the sole Pathfinding country in South Asia committed to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.2 (ending violence against children), Sri Lanka's efforts have faltered. The National Partnership to End Violence Against Children (NPEVAC), established to drive this agenda, dissolved in 2018. At the 2024 Bogotá Ministerial Conference, the government pledged to enact the Penal Code Reforms Bill to Abolish Corporal Punishment, a long-overdue measure and to implement teacher training programs by mid-2025. However, legislative delays and inadequate enforcement undermine these commitments.