The Ministry of Justice has recently proposed a draft amendment to Article 1085 of the Civil Code in compliance with the principle of “prohibition of all forms of violence” outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Point 27 of the Independent Opinions on the Second National Report on the CRC by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The notice period for the draft amendment is currently in progress. The NHRC welcomed the Ministry of Justice’s incorporation of its recommendations, noting that the proposed amendment of the Civil Code aligns with the principles of the CRC. To prohibit corporal punishment within the family, the CRC mandates that parents shall protect and educate their minor children, and shall not inflict physical or mental violence on their children. The NHRC further pointed out that child abuse within the family infringes upon fundamental human rights, including the right to survival and development for all children. Social dialogue is often required to strengthen the public’s awareness of human rights and the rule of law, and this amendment of the Civil Code, which eliminates the power of parental discipline, provides an opportunity for proactive dialogue across society with the aim of incorporating children’s rights into laws and policies, promoting social and cultural change, and fulfilling the CRC’s ethos of treating children as the subjects of rights.
Familial abuse of preschool children has escalated in the past five years, as indicated in Point 71 of the NHRC’s Independent Opinions on the Second National Report on the CRC. Preschool children are the primary demographics affected by child abuse-related fatalities, and those under the age of three with infants and small children accounting for eighty percent of such victims. As a result, the Independent Opinions of the Second National Report on the CRC stated that “Articles 1084 and 1085 of the current Civil Code still give priority to parents’ rights and their obligation to protect and educate their minor children and to discipline them to the extent necessary, a policy that is based on public sentiment in our society. Given that the CRC has been incorporated domestically and in light of the legislative journeys of Japan and Korea, the NHRC believes it is important for the Government to explore ways to prohibit corporal punishment in the home.”
In 2017, the International Review Committee noted in Point 56 of its Concluding Observations on First National Report on the Implementation of the CRC that corporal punishment is not prohibited within the family and continues to occur in schools. In Point 57, the Committee recommended that the government provide clear guidance on banning corporal punishment at home, as outlined in UN CRC Committee’s General Comment No. 8. According to the CRC Committee’s General Comments No. 8 and No. 13, violence includes any behavior that causes physical and/or psychological harm, suffering, abuse, or exploitation. This encompasses actions such as hitting children with objects; kicking, shaking, or throwing them, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair, or boxing ears; forcing children into uncomfortable positions, burning, or scalding; or forced ingestion (e.g., washing a child’s mouth out with soap). More importantly, non-physical forms of violence, including punishment that belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, frightens, or ridicules a child, should also be prohibited. Violence causes not only physical harm but also deep psychological trauma. The violence we experience as children shapes our perceptions of people and the world, often leaving lasting emotional scars. As adults, we must recognize that psychological wounds are often more difficult to heal than physical ones. This is why the CRC explicitly includes “mental violence” in its prohibition of all forms of violence.
In 1979, Sweden became the first country in the world to ban corporal punishment within the family. By 2022, 65 countries had prohibited corporal punishment of minors in all settings. In Asia, Japan outlawed corporal punishment within the family in 2020, and South Korea followed in 2021.
Taiwan’s proposed amendment marks a significant milestone in advancing children’s human rights. Once enacted, Taiwan will become the fourth country in East Asia to ban corporal punishment within the family. The NHRC calls on the executive and legislative branches to expedite the passage of this amendment to ensure that all children in Taiwan can grow up in a safe and healthy environment, free from physical and mental violence.