ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the roots and growth of the global movement to end corporal punishment of children by tracing the key events that have fueled its evolution. A historic turning point occurred in 1979 when Sweden became the first country to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including the home. In 1978, one year before Sweden passed its corporal punishment prohibition, Poland proposed to the United Nations a human rights treaty specifically focused on the rights of children. The Global Study on Violence against Children gathered data from governments, international and national non-governmental organizations, academics and practitioners, and heard testimony from thousands of children and adults in all regions of the world. The European Committee of Social Rights declared that the European Social Charter requires prohibition of corporal punishment and all other violence against children. Through the 2000s, many major faith groups began to assume leadership in calling for the prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment.
