The countries that have banned smacking children as doctors urge England to follow

Kate Ng
·Trending Lifestyle Reporter
Updated ·4-min read
Little boy with a sad, lonely and angry expression hides in the shadows of a home staircase with just his face lit by shadowy window light.
Children who have had bad experiences of being smacked are more likely to have poor mental health and behavioural problems as they get older, research shows. (Getty Images)

Leading children's doctors are calling for a complete ban on smacking children in England, saying there is no evidence it has any positive effect on their wellbeing.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said smacking children should be consigned to the history books and urged those opposing a smacking ban to look at the scientific evidence which shows that smacking causes physical and emotional damage and "doesn’t benefit them in any way whatsoever".

According to the Children Act 2004, it is unlawful to hit your child, except where it is "reasonable punishment", and this is judged on a case-by-case basis.

But doctors from the College are appealing to parliamentarians to back an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would remove the "reasonable punishment" defence from law in England.

"That defence of reasonable punishment of children in England has been around since 1860 but, in recent legislation, it was introduced in the Children Act of 2004," Professor Andrew Rowland, a consultant paediatrician and RCPCH officer for child protection, told the PA news agency. "Now is the time for this Victorian-era punishment to go and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill amendment will do that if passed."

Shy little boy hiding
Campaigners call on the government to do more to protect children. (Getty Images)

According to Professor Andrew Rowland some 67 countries around the world have already adopted smacking bans, including Wales and Scotland, with a further 20 committing to do so.

Sweden was the first country to do so in 1979. The ban has been largely considered successful, with the number of children who were smacked dropping from around half to "just a few per cent" in the 2000s, according to Save the Children Sweden.

Although more countries have also banned corporal punishment of children, these remain the minority as 121 countries have yet to do the same. This includes North America, including the US and Canada, England and Northern Ireland.

You can see the full map of countries that have banned smacking children and those that have not below. The blue areas indicate where smacking is banned.

And here's a full list of the 67 countries compiled by End Corporal Punishment.

While there have been continuous calls for the government to ban corporal punishment of children in England, no such prohibition has been put in place.

In 2023 the government rejected calls to do so and said children are already protected in law. It argued that parents should be trusted to discipline their children.

"The government does not condone any violence towards children and has clear laws in place to prevent it," a spokesperson for the Department of Education said at the time.

But charities and campaigners have condemned the government’s decision. The NSPCC, Barnardo’s and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) believe children should have the same protection as adults.

In August 2024, the NSPCC said it saw an increase of more than 300% in contacts to the organisation’s helpline about physical punishment against children.

It said the calls of concern included, but were not limited to, children being hit, slapped and shaken as part of discipline and punishment.

A poll of 3,500 adults in England carried out by YouGov on behalf of the NSPCC in January 2024 found that 71% think smacking, hitting, slapping, or shaking a child is not acceptable.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC CEO, said in a statement: "It is hugely concerning that calls to our Helpline about adults using physical measures to punish their children have tripled in the past year.

"Mounting evidence shows that physically disciplining children can be damaging and counterproductive. A long over-due change in the law to prevent physical punishment of children must be delivered by our political leaders.

"The new UK government have an opportunity to show they are committed to child protection and remove this legal anomaly which would end the use of physical punishment across the UK once and for all."

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