Children rights campaigners under the body; Joining Forces Alliance have frowned at corporal punishments in homes.
Describing it as inhumane, the activists hope that the vice could be narrowed down to zero if initiatives which include the legislative enation of laws prohibiting the vice are tightened further.
Speaking on behalf of other activists, Strinic Dragana, the Executive Director of save the children who also doubles as chairperson, of Joining Forces Alliance, said that violence against children in homes, and is deeply rooted with many perpetrators lying behind the quotation “Spare the Rod Spoil the Child,” which according to her is far from the truth in child upbringing.
“The scientific fact is that violence against children can negatively affect cognitive development and result in educational and vocational underachievement. And this is one of the many negative consequences on children.”
Under the Children Act 2016, corporal punishments are prohibited in schools, a disciplinary method that was deeply embedded in the Ugandan school system for a very long time.
Children’s activists however have turned the focus on homes, where they say the use of corporal punishment here is so deep that parents look at it from a cultural perspective; an attitude they believe must change.
To strengthen the fight against violence in children, Dragana called on the government to enhance budgeting and implementation of child protection mechanisms, mainly reporting measures and laws to address the cultural and social norms that contribute to this monster in society.
“We would like to use this opportunity to request the members of parliament to make corporal punishment unlawful in Ugandan homes, just as it is unlawful in schools. This will significantly contribute to achieving children’s rights protection and healthy development.”
The call, was part of Dragana’s communication, at the climaxing of the nine-month Hands4Good campaign, which saw the joining forces coalition work directly with families to end physical violence against children.
The campaign is estimated to have reached out to 2.5 million people through social media, 9, 684 children and parents participated in the different sessions.
Various reports on children’s rights have indicated that, in the 18 months of the Covid-19 induced lockdown, Children’s rights were enormously abused. Many of them single out physical abuse in form of corporal punishment as the most leading form of abuse that children faced during that period.
Rose Kibuuka, one of the parents who participated in the parenting without-violence Sessions said that;
“After these sessions, I stopped beating my children because I had learned about conflict resolution and now I know how to solve issues with my children and husband peacefully.”
The 2018 National Violence against Children Survey, shows that parents or adult relatives were the most perpetrators of physical violence in children. It further shows that 7 in 10 boys and 6 in 10 girls had experienced physical violence in their childhood.
