Almost half of the Belgian population considers it appropriate to hit a child
Belgium is among the last four countries in the EU without a ban on violence in the upbringing of children. According to children’s rights commissioner Caroline Vrijens, almost half of the Belgian population still considers it appropriate to hit a child. Vrijens reported the numbers on the International Day to End Corporal Punishment of Children, which was on Saturday.
“What prevents us from legally prohibiting violence in the upbringing of our kids?” Vrijens wonders. “The idea that a ban is patronizing, invades privacy, that everyone loses their temper at times and that we are taking things too far by punishing people for that? There are all false arguments,” she claims. ”Due to the corona measures that kept us at home, the figures of domestic violence and child abuse also exploded in Flanders.”
According to Vrijens, a legal ban could send out a strong social signal and must be accompanied by support for families and guidance. “The law will make people more alert. It will have a strong deterrent effect regarding violence in households. Since 1979, Sweden has shown that a well-founded legal ban greatly reduces violence and the acceptance of violence in society.”
(AS)
©Belga Image Ina Fassbender