The children's commissioner has said she thinks England should consider following Scotland and Wales in banning the smacking of children.
Dame Rachel de Souza has spoken out about her support for changing the law to give children the same protection from assault as adults. She told Times Radio: “I absolutely abhor, and I’m against, violence of any kind against children. Because children are more vulnerable than adults, I think we do need to ensure that their rights are supported.”
Last month Wales became the second UK nation to introduce laws to make any type of corporal punishment illegal, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking. The “smacking ban”, as it is known, was brought in under the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 and marks the end of the common law defence of “reasonable punishment”.
