• A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that corporal punishment remains alarmingly widespread and causes significant harm to children’s health and development.

• The report titled ‘Corporal punishment of children: the public health impact’, highlights that children most at risk of experiencing corporal punishment are those with a disability.

What is corporal punishment?

• Corporal punishment is defined as any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.

• Such punishment most often involves hitting children with a hand or an object (such as a belt or shoe), but can also include kicking, shaking or throwing children; scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing ears; forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions; burning and scalding; or forced ingestion (for example, washing children’s mouths out with soap). 

• Corporal punishment often co-occurs with psychological punishment, which involves behaviour that belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules a child.

• For generations, adults have used various childrearing methods to discipline children, often including physical punishment. The common acceptance of corporal punishment and its legitimacy has been embedded in law, religion and cultural traditions in many societies. 

Prevalence of corporal punishment

• Globally, an estimated 1.2 billion children aged 0-18 years are subjected to corporal (physical) punishment in their homes every year. 

• Data across 58 countries show that 17 per cent of children who experienced corporal punishment in the past month were subjected to its most severe forms — including being hit on the head, face, or ears, or being hit hard and repeatedly.

• The use of corporal punishment in homes varies widely across countries. 

• In schools, the practice is equally widespread. Across Africa and Central America, around 70 per cent of children experience corporal punishment during their school years, compared with about 25 per cent in the Western Pacific region.

• Broader societal factors such as poverty, racism and discrimination further increase the risk of corporal punishment of children.

• No study has found any positive effects of corporal punishment on children’s behaviour, development or wellbeing.

Risk factors for corporal punishment

• The health consequences of child corporal punishment are profound and far-reaching. 

• Beyond immediate injuries, the practice triggers harmful biological responses, including heightened stress hormone reactivity and changes in brain structure and function that can undermine healthy development. 

• Analysis across 49 low and middle-income countries shows that children exposed to corporal punishment are, on average, 24 per cent less likely to be developmentally on track compared to peers who are not exposed.

• It can severely damage the quality of the parent-child relationship, and these negative effects can continue into adulthood.

• The mental health toll is equally severe. Children subjected to corporal punishment face increased risks of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and emotional instability. 

• These effects frequently persist into adulthood, manifesting as higher rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse and even contemplated, attempted or completed suicide.

• Corporal punishment carries wider societal consequences as well. Children who experience it are more likely to develop aggressive behaviours, struggle academically, and, as adults, engage in violent, antisocial, or criminal conduct. 

• Corporal punishment in the school setting violates children’s right to education by creating an intimidating environment in which they are less able to learn.

• The detrimental impacts of corporal punishment on individual children and adults add up to considerable societal-level costs. The increased burden on health, mental health, child protection and criminal justice services, and the loss of human capital, are substantial.

• One estimate suggests that all violence against children costs 2-5 per cent of global GDP annually, while the World Bank calculated that inaction on school violence, including corporal punishment, costs the world around $11 trillion in lost lifetime earnings. 

• The practice also fuels a broader social acceptance of violence, reinforcing harmful cycles across generations.

Efforts to enforce laws not sufficient

• Although many countries have banned corporal punishment, its continued use – and the persistent belief that it is necessary – demonstrates that legislation alone is not enough.

• Currently, 67 countries worldwide have universal bans on corporal punishment, both in the home and in school. In addition to better enforcement of these prohibitions, WHO is calling for new educational campaigns to reinforce the harm it can cause.  

• Studies have found that there is no consistent association between legal bans and decreased rates in physical punishment.  

• Studies suggest that if parents knew of alternative and more effective methods of punishment for children, they would use them.

• WHO stresses that legal measures must be paired with public awareness campaigns and direct support for parents, caregivers, and teachers to promote positive, non-violent forms of discipline.

Corporal punishment in schools prohibited in India

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have been entrusted with the task of monitoring children’s right to education under Section 31 of the RTE Act, 2009.