In January 2020 the Senedd passed the Welsh Government’s Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 (“the Act”). The overarching aim is to help protect children’s rights and give all children in Wales the best start in life. The Act received Royal Assent on 20 March 2020 and there now follows a comprehensive multi-media stakeholder and public awareness campaign before the Act comes into force on 21 March 2022.
Here, at Children in Wales, we workedon a project to make sure that children and young people of all ages hear about these changes, in a way which is appropriate and sensitive to their needs.
The change in law does not create a new offence, rather it removes a 160-year-old legal defence – the defence of reasonable punishment –so that it cannot be used by anybody charged with common assault against a child. Over the years legislation has limited the circumstances where the defence could be used and limited the settings where children can be physically punished. Physical punishment has long been outlawed in schools, children’s homes, local authority foster care homes and childcare settings. The new legislation means it will also be outlawed in unregulated settings, such as the home, for the first time.
Browse the resources below for more information and updates on this key development in Welsh legislation.
The End Child Poverty Network Cymru remain deeply concerned that levels of child poverty in Wales remain stubbornly high and predicted to sharply increase in the near future, with many more children and their families struggling to meet basic everyday costs and needs.
