Where is smacking illegal

For even more serious injuries - resulting in cuts, multiple bruising, fractures, broken bones, broken teeth or loss of conscious - a parent could be charged under Actual Bodily Harm. The Children Equal Protection from Assualt Act , which came into force on November 7, bans physical punishment and discipline of children. Scottish ministers removed the legal defence of "reasonable chastisement" which allowed parents to smack a child under The Government has even advised Scots who see a parent smacking their child to call and report a crime.

Under the headline "if you see someone physically punishing their child", the advice said: "You should call to report a crime in progress or if a child or young person is in immediate danger. Sweden became the first country in the world to ban smacking in the home in when it outlawed corporal punishment.

Wales has approved a ban on parents smacking children and is expected to come into force in Welsh Minister for Children Huw Irranca-Davies says that there is no place for physical punishment of children in a modern and progressive Wales. We were brave enough to be the first in the UK, and amongst only a few in Europe and the World, to put such arrangements in place.

It is right that as a Government, we take action to protect children and support parents to use positive and effective alternatives to physical punishment. Generally, arguments for light smacks are made on the basis that "mum knows best", it's a deterrent for more serious disobedience and biting, and that it never did the parent any harm. Those against smacking think it's an out-dated practice, which is now banned in many other countries.

The research has led to renewed calls for policymakers to ban such practices in both schools and the home. However, researchers say it is not clear whether bans on smacking themselves drive better behaviour, or if smacking and youth violence were already rarer in countries that have adopted the policy.

Writing in the journal BMJ Open , researchers in Canada, the US and Israel describe how they examined the results of surveys carried out in schools in 88 countries between and More than , young males and females were asked about how often they physically fought with others, with their ages ranging from 11 to 25 years depending on the survey.

The team then considered whether corporal punishment was legal in a given country, and if so, whether the ban was only in schools, or in the home as well. The researchers found that boys were more than three times as likely to fight frequently than girls, meaning coming to blows four or more times in a year.

That said, when factors including national wealth, homicide rates and capital punishment bans were taken into account, a ban on corporal punishment only appeared to be linked to a drop in fighting among girls. She said: "This law sets out in clear terms that physical punishment should no longer be part of childhood in Scotland and it marks a momentous step in making it a country where children's rights are truly recognised, respected and fulfilled.

Green MSP John Finnie, who introduced the changes, said that during his campaign he met many people who thought smacking was already illegal. Be Reasonable Scotland opposed the legislation and the campaign group warned it could mean parents being prosecuted for "even the mildest physical discipline".

A spokesman said: "In the years ahead, loving parents who have had no contact with the authorities previously and who present no risk to their children will face stressful intervention, blacklisting on police databases and even criminal records for smacking. Watch Live. Scotland becomes first part of UK to make smacking children illegal The rest of the country still allows smacking using a legal defence of "reasonable punishment".