Putting a spanking to a child will be illegal in Switzerland

The National Council registers education without violence in the Civil Code, despite the opposition of the UDC (134 votes to 56).

Education without violence soon registered in the Civil Code.Image: Shutterstock

Parents must educate their children without resorting to violence. The National Council adopted on Monday by 134 votes against 56 a project which explicitly introduces the principle of education without violence in the Civil Code. Only the UDC was opposed to it.

This development has long been perceptible in society. The spanking or the slap are fortunately no longer part of the educational arsenal in Switzerland, recalled Philippe Nantermod (PLR/VS) on behalf of the Commission. We thus make fundamental limits respecting the physical and mental integrity of children.

Body punishments are already continued at the criminal level. The function of these new standards is above all preventive and symbolic. Parents’ educational freedom is not called into question, it is not a question of imposing a standard of “benevolent education” type or of prohibiting any punishment, said Valaisan.

Refusal of the UDC

Isolated in his refusal, a good part of the UDC tried to sink the project. Physical violence must be prohibited, but each family must be able to educate as it sees fit, criticized Manfred Bühler (UDC/BE).

Manfred Bühler.Keystone

“I do not advocate a schlag education,” said the Bernese. You just have to disarm parents, otherwise we open the way to an ideological drift.

A minority of children is still undergoing violence in his education, said the Minister of Justice Beat Jans. The cases left up last year, according to the available data.

The new standard will have a deterrent effect, he hopes. Educating without violence does not mean educating without clear limits, added the socialist federal adviser.

Psychological violence

The project responds to a request from the Parliament. Currently, criminal law protects children and civil law has recently been strengthened to extend the rights and obligations of reporting in the event of suspicions of endangering the property of the child.

The government project concretely enjoins parents to raise their children “without resorting to violence, especially without bodily punishment or other degrading treatments”. The registration of this principle in the law poses a framework not only for parents, but also for consultation offices and social services.

During the consultation, several votes asked that the text be supplemented by the express mention of the different forms of violence and in particular psychological violence. The Federal Council, however, decided to maintain its decision not to mention it.

The ban on psychological violence is included in the general ban on violence, assures the government. And to specify that psychological violence is addressed in detail in the explanations relating to the forms of prohibited violence.

Awareness

The project also strengthens prevention. The Federal Council judges that these new standards be accompanied by national awareness and information campaigns.

The experiences of foreign countries show that awareness -raising measures are decisive to limit violence against children, underlines the Federal Council. A study also concluded that physical violence in education is rarer in countries where it is expressly prohibited by law.

Help and advice offers to parents and children must therefore be expanded. They already exist, but their nature and accessibility vary from one canton to another. The latter must ensure that in the event of difficulties in education, these services are sufficiently available.

The Council of States still has to look into the file. (Jah/ATS)

News in Switzerland is here