Smacking, spanking, beating and other physical punishments breach rights to respect for human dignity and physical integrity. The special legal defences that protect parents, teachers and carers who do violence to children in the name of discipline, breach the right to equal protection under the law.
Legal concepts such as 'reasonable chastisement' and 'lawful correction', which protect the 'punishment rights' of parents and teachers, are rooted in the historical perception of children as the property of their fathers. Two centuries ago similar attitudes to slaves, servants and women were reflected in the 'rights' of their masters and husbands to beat and humiliate them. Challenging the acceptance of violence towards them was a fundamental part of women's struggle for equal status. Now it is children's turn to overturn their status as less than people, symbolised by the idea that adults have a 'right' to hit them.
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