Overcoming child corporal punishment from a human rights perspective, scientific evidence and a pedagogy of the subject

Abstract

Corporal punishment is one of the most widespread forms of violence against children worldwide and in Latin America, resulting in its naturalization, which tends to be justified as something “inevitable” in their education and discipline. In this sense, this paper addresses the challenge of defining corporal punishment as a form of violence and violation of the human rights of children, proposing a set of guidelines for its elimination. The various human rights instruments clearly establish that corporal punishment is incompatible with respect for the intrinsic dignity of children. Within this framework, and based on an exhaustive documentary review of official figures, international treaties, general observations of human rights committees, scientific research, and relevant texts, the article puts forward a set of three proposals to advance the elimination of corporal punishment of children: a) banish the adult-centric vision that underpins corporal punishment; b) promote a human rights approach based on scientific evidence, and c) move from a repressive and domesticating pedagogy to a pedagogy of the subject, where each child is recognized as a subject of rights.