Physical punishment is the most common form of violence against children and a major concern from both children’s rights and public health perspectives. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated unequivocally that protection from physical punishment in all settings, including in the family home, is a basic human right of every child.
In the UK, physical punishment is no longer lawful in Scotland and Wales. However, in England and Northern Ireland the common assault of a child by a parent or adult ‘acting in loco parentis’ remains legal via the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’. A proposed amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that is currently before the UK Parliament would finally see the abolition of this outdated defence and provide children in England with the same legal protection from physical assault that adults have. It’s a change that is long overdue and that Dr Anja Heilmann and Professor Yvonne Kelly at UCL, together with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and many other organisations, including the NSPCC and Barnardos, are throwing their weight behind.
Although in the UK parents’ use of physical punishment has declined over the past decade, our research shows that, in 2020/21, one in five 10-year-olds had been physically punished in some way. The research also shows that physical punishment is more common for younger children and that social and economic circumstances make no difference.
However, public attitudes are changing. In 2024, the NSPCC found that 71 per cent of UK adults considered physical punishment unacceptable, a figure that has been increasing over the past few years.
There is considerable political support for change too. In a recent parliamentary debate, MP Jess Asato, who introduced the amendment to the Bill, described it as an opportunity to ensure finally that children in England, like their counterparts in Scotland and Wales, receive equal protection from assault and battery. In her address, she referenced our 2021 review in The Lancet of 69 studies, which concluded that physical punishment has no benefits whatsoever. Instead, it has been linked to a number of detrimental outcomes, including increased childhood aggression and antisocial behaviours, poorer mental health, and a heightened risk of more severe forms of maltreatment.
Precedents
Important precedents have been set in other parts of the UK, with the law already changed in both Scotland and Wales. Wales provides the closest legal and implementation pathway for England to follow because, until the Welsh Parliament passed the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020, criminal law in both nations was identical. Wales’s law was accompanied by a comprehensive public education campaign and clear information for professionals leading to awareness of the law change among 90 per cent of the adult population.
Prior concerns in both countries about a wave of criminal prosecutions of parents and carers appear to have been unfounded, although official prosecution statistics are not due until Spring 2025. As an alternative to prosecution, police in Wales are able to offer individually-tailored parenting support, which for most participating parents has led to improvements in their child’s behaviour or their own wellbeing.
Globally, so far 67 states across all continents (Tajikistan being the latest) have outlawed all forms of physical punishment in all settings, including the home. Together with what’s been learned from other countries, the positive Welsh and Scottish experiences highlight the importance of law change being accompanied by a large-scale public awareness campaign. Families need support in the use of positive parenting strategies. We also believe that the impact of legislative change should be monitored in relation to child wellbeing and societal attitudinal changes, not just the number of prosecutions.
Wider violence prevention
There’s a growing recognition of the links between violence against children and violence against women, providing a strong hint that physical punishment should also be seen as a key part of wider efforts to prevent violence. Reforming the law would signal that violence is never acceptable, and further shift societal norms, sending a clear message to our children that enforcing our will on others through inflicting physical pain is wholly and unequivocally unacceptable. Certainly, evidence shows the prevalence of physical punishment declines faster where it is prohibited, and that countries where physical punishment is illegal have lower levels of youth violence.
Reform would also provide greater clarity to parents, to the professionals supporting them and to children themselves about how they can expect to be treated. As things stand, there is no clear definition of what is ‘reasonable’ – it is dependent on circumstance and open to interpretation. It is this ambiguity, between lawful punishment and unlawful abuse, which leaves children exposed to potential harm.
Children have the right to be brought up free from all forms of violence. As a society, we want our children to be happy, feel safe, and flourish, and to grow into responsible adults. It cannot be right that, in 2025, children have less legal protection from physical harm than adults.
We now have a unique opportunity to right a historical wrong and help create the society we want to be. Jess Asato could not have made the argument any better when she told Parliament it was clear that “the threat of violence that children face should no longer be given legal cover”. We believe the time to pass this amendment is now and we urge the Government to do so.
This blog was a collaboration between Dr Anja Heilmann and Professor Yvonne Kelly from UCL, former Children’s Commissioner for Wales Professor Sally Holland and Joanna Barrett, Associate Head of Policy (Devolved Nations) NSPCC.