Smacking kids should be banned now, Children's Commissioner for England tells ministers
20 October 2024, 21:01
Ministers need to ban parents from smacking their kids now, the Children's Commissioner for England has said.
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Rachel de Souza said that the rules on mums and dads from hitting their children as a form of discipline should be brought in line with Scotland and Wales's ban.
Currently, parents can claim that the smack was "reasonable chastisement" at court if prosecuted.
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Ms De Souza wrote in the Observer: "We have seen too many cases where children have been harmed and died at the hands of the people who should love and care for them most.
"A ban on smacking is a necessary step to keep children safe and to stop lower-level violence from escalating.
"I abhor violence of any kind against children. Children are more vulnerable than adults, so we need to ensure that they are protected, and their rights are supported.”
Her intervention comes after the murder trial of the parents of Sara Sharif heard that her father Urfan, 42, had told police that he had "legally punished" his daughter in a phone call.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said told the Old Bailey on Monday that Sara’s father told a 999 operator he had "killed" his daughter after claiming he “legally punished her".
Her dad, Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmum Beinash Batool, 29, and Urfan's brother, Faisal Malik, 28 are all standing trial charged with her murder.
They deny the charges.
