Carrot, not stick

The National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) recently held a special workshop on child abuse, focusing on corporal punishment, which seems to be still widespread in the country and accepted by most Jordanians as a proper method for disciplining children.

Article 62 of the Penal Code was of most interest to the participants in view of the fact that it allows corporal punishment as long as it is in line with some “general norms”.

According to a recent study by NCFA, child abuse makes up about 30 per cent of cases of domestic violence in the country.

The problem lies in the broad guidelines stipulated by Article 62.

“General norms”, as stated in the criminal legislation, is problematical not only because it is open to various interpretations but also because certain customs, that is “norms”, are themselves a problem.

In many traditional societies, Jordan included, physical disciplinary punishment is generally condoned and accepted in the case of certain family members, particularly children.

International human rights conventions, foremost among them the Convention on the Rights of the Child, forbid in absolute and strongest terms corporal punishment.

As such, the participants in the NCFA meeting should have had no trouble agreeing on outlawing corporal punishment even if it is still tolerated by tradition.

All stakeholders should agree on the urgent need to amend the controversial Article 62 of the criminal law by substituting the reference to “general norms” with international norms as stipulated in international treaties like those that Jordan ratified.

Lawmakers are bound by the international commitments the country accepted and endorsed, and as such, there should be no place for ambiguous language only to please “traditional” codes of conduct.

In the 21st century, educators — parents and schools — should know better than believe that the stick works better than persuasion.