The abolition of physical punishment of children through amendments to the Family Law has led to allegations that “the state is sending control into the home” and “criminally prosecuting for slaps and cuffs,” which, according to the relevant ministry, are incorrect and unacceptable. The public debate on the Draft Amendments to the law ended ten days ago, but the controversy does not subside. President Aleksandar Vučić requested that the Government carefully consider all objections.
Amendments to the law, which has been in force for more than two decades, are urgent, according to the relevant ministry. It is necessary to harmonize it with ratified conventions and agreements, as well as with the report of the European Commission, which demands from Serbia an explicit ban on underage marriages and corporal punishment in the family.
This is provided for by the Draft Law, but many find the second amendment difficult to accept.
Many fear that even the slightest cuff used to punish a child could be abused by someone to report them.
To prevent this from happening, the Draft Law lacks a precise definition of what constitutes corporal punishment, according to the position of the Judicial Authority Union.
“The Committee on the Rights of the Child has clearly defined the principles by which corporal punishment should be determined, in order to prevent abuses – both overly harsh prohibitions, i.e., excessive punishment of parents, but also solutions that are too mild due to which certain behavior would not be recognized,” says Aleksandra Arnautović from the Judicial Authority Union.
The relevant ministry reminds that four years ago, Serbia adopted the General Protocol for the Protection of Children from Violence, which specifies what constitutes corporal punishment.
Violence normalized
Of more than 250 comments on the Draft Law, the ministry accepted one-fifth. An application that was intended to serve for analyzing the prevalence of violence, which many interpreted as a means that would enable children to report and blackmail parents, was deleted from the text.
“Nowhere in the law does it state that children will be taken away from parents. It is necessary to talk to parents, provide psychological and sociological support from experts employed in centers for social work, and suggest that they eliminate deficiencies in the exercise of parental rights,” states the Minister for Family Care and Demography, Jelena Žarić Kovačević.
Psychologist and psychotherapist Snežana Anđelić believes that it is not about creating hostility towards parents, but about protecting children.
“We have normalized violence to a large extent and use it almost daily, often unaware of the consequences. It causes fear, insecurity, awakens aggression, and imposes a model of behavior – when I have a problem, I will use force,” points out Anđelić.
The debate on the abolition of physical punishment has also pushed other amendments to the Family Law into the background, such as the abolition of the age limit of 10 years for a child to express an opinion in administrative and judicial proceedings.
MORE TOPICS:
Source: RTS; Photo: Pixabay