Proposals which have been introduced to stop parents from smacking their children in Scotland have been opened for public consultation.
The move comes before a propose member’s bill which is set to be discussed in Parliament. The bill looks to offer children equal protection from assault.
The bill has been put forwards by Green MSP John Finnie, of the Highlands and Islands.
The proposal has been backed by children’s charities, as well as the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents. The public consultation will run until the beginning of August.
Mr Finnie said that we cannot see Scotland as the best place in the world to grow up if our laws offer less protection from assault to children than to anyone else, stating evidence that suggests that using physical punishment on a child is ‘detrimental’ to the long-term health and wellbeing of children.
He said: ’Parents know how important it is to build strong, healthy relationships with their children. We can see from both international evidence and what families here tell us that physical punishment can prevent this’, adding that it only works to make children’s behaviour worse, and increase the conflict that exists between parents and their children.
The law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is different than in Scotland. There is no ban on smacking in the rest of the UK, with parents allowed to use ‘reasonable chastisement’ when punishing their child. Criminal charges may be brought about if hitting a child leaves a mark, or causes bruises, cuts, swelling or grazes.
Scottish law allows parents to claim ‘justifiable assault’ when punishing children. However, section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 bans parents from the use of an ‘implement’ when doing so. It also bans parents from being allowed to shake their child, or strike them on the head.
Mr Finnie said that offering full protection for children against assault sends a ‘clear message’. He added that it would serve as an underpinning for the efforts that are being made to reduce violence in Scotland.
Tam Baillie, who left his post as children’s commissioner in April renewed his calls for implementing a smacking ban on children. He said that the UK was one of only five countries in Europe that did not offer full protection to children from physical punishment, saying that children in Zimbabwe are offered better protection than children in Scotland are.
The UK was urged by the United Nations in 2015 to introduce laws which banned smacking in the home, while a group of academics have called for it to be banned in Scotland, after finding evidence that it creates a ‘cycle of violence’, which children will carry on through their lives.
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