Spare the rod and spoil the child? Many parents, guardians and day-to-day custodians like teachers, subscribe to that line of thought—which basically means if children are not physically punished when they do wrong, they will go astray and never learn obedience or good manners.

Every year, on April 30, the International Day to End Corporal Punishment is observed. The day’s purpose aims to end violence towards children—a global movement to advocate for the protection of children from violent forms of punishment, in all settings.

Corporal punishment entails hitting, slapping, spanking, shaking, punching, kicking, choking, burning, electric shock, confinement in small spaces, excessive exercise, and fixed postures for long periods. Despite the pain and injuries which might be caused by such punishments, physical violence against children also affects them psychologically, according to experts.

According to Françoise Karibwende, a clinical psychology specialist, and the founder and managing director of Wihogora Psychosocial Center, abusive punishments imposed on children are more than the pain endured as they expose lifetime risks of psychological issues.

"Corporal punishment triggers harmful psychological and physiological responses. Children not only experience pain, sadness, fear, anger, shame and guilt, but feeling threatened also leads to physiological stress and the activation of neural pathways that support dealing with danger,” Karibwende says.

"Children and even adults who have been spanked are more likely to develop anxiety and depression disorders, or have more difficulty engaging positively in school and skills of regulation, which we know are necessary to be successful in educational settings.”

She said children tend to perceive corporal punishment administered in anger as rejection by the punisher— usually, a parent or other person important to the child— and the more rejected children feel, the more impaired their psychological adjustment tends to be.

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"When parents or teachers use spanking, it doesn’t lead to the desired outcomes in discipline, or teach children how to regulate their emotions. We know there are better techniques, like positive discipline, that are more effective,” Karibwende says.

The most important tool out there, she said, is explaining to children certain behaviours that are wrong and what kind of behaviour to seek through an example, there are many non-violent ways to discipline or punish a child instead of hitting, smacking or spanking them.

Karibwende said physical punishment usually occurs with psychological aggression. If this continues, over time, the child internalises a message of violence and may grow up believing that physical aggression is okay in certain social situations.

"It’s ironic to use physical punishment and teach a child not to be aggressive. It reduces their understanding of the rules and values being taught,” she said.

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Ending violence against children

Through the use of multi-sectoral and family-centred approaches, different measures have been taken by the government to prevent such attitudes.

Esperance Uwicyeza, Head of Child Development, Protection and Promotion at the National Child Development Agency, said, "We continue to disseminate the law so that the community members are aware of the relevance of preventing corporal punishment while disciplining children.

"We have deployed staff in charge of child protection and welfare in every district whose primary duties include preventing and responding to all forms of corporal punishment and promoting positive parenting.”

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Uwicyeza said the government is putting much emphasis on raising community awareness aimed at discouraging corporal punishment and social norms that promote physical violence against children, and also promoting the use of other positive disciplining methods.

"We have established a community child protection workforce ‘Inshuti z’Umuryango’ (Friend of the Family) at the village level to prevent, identify and handle child protection concerns including physical violence. They are all trained in all forms of child abuse and how to deal with it.

"Community awareness raising is conducted through the existing community forums (‘Umuganda’, ‘Umugoroba w’Imiryango’, ‘Inteko z’abaturage’), mass and social media outreach activities as well regular family visits conducted by ‘Inshuti z’Umuryango’ and our staff based in the districts,” Uwicyeza said.

Parents, caregivers, teachers and community members should be aware that corporal punishment in disciplining children is against the law in Rwanda, she added.

In addition, a child protection hotline, 711, has been established to be used by the general public to report all issues related to child protection including corporal punishment imposed on children.

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Parents share their views

The use of spanking and other physical forms of punishment were very common in past-generation households, it was normal for a parent or a caregiver to impose physical punishments, which would result in severe maltreatment of children.

Delphine Umuhire, 29, a mother of one, believes that there is no positive impact on raising a child using physical violence.

"I don’t think using physical violence on a child can teach her/him any lesson, it would only be a traumatic experience. There are many ways you can educate and discipline your child, by showing them love rather than pushing them away and making them think they are unloved,” Umuhire said.

Jackson Karasira, a 54-year-old father of four, admits that previously, he used physical violence on the first two children, but it did not help improve their behaviour.

"I used to hit my kids hoping that they would learn a thing or two about what they did, and the very next day they would do the same thing. My way of teaching them did not make them behave better, it only distanced them from me.

"Then I changed approach, we adopted other ways of disciplining our children, my two younger children never experienced any spanking in our household. Maybe they do at school, but at home, we just explain to them that certain behaviours are wrong, or use other positive punishments,” he said.

Karasira added, "Being a parent is a huge responsibility, it makes you the most important person in your children’s lives and it means you are supposed to be their protector, not their abuser. It is such a shame to see a child who was violently abused by their own parent.

"Children are delicate, they deserve a violence-free environment so that we build a strong future generation with less trauma. Some of us might have been abused by our parents but we don’t have to transfer our trauma to our own kids.”

What does the law say?

Article 28 of Law No.71/2018 of 31/08/2018 relating to the protection of the child, states:

‘Without prejudice to heavier penalties provided by other laws, a person who harasses a child or imposes severe or degrading punishments including corporal sanctions, commits an offence. Upon conviction, a person who harasses a child or imposes severe punishments on him/ her is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than two (2) years and not more than three (3) years, and a fine of not less than two hundred thousand Rwandan francs (Rwf 200,000) and not more than three hundred thousand Rwandan francs (Rwf 300,000).

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If the offence results in the child’s disability, the penalty is imprisonment for a term of not less than seven (7) years and not more than ten (10) years and a fine of not less than one million Rwandan francs (Rwf 1,000,000) and not more than two million Rwandan francs (Rwf 2,000,000).

If the offense results in the death of the child, the penalty is life imprisonment.