Wales Joined 63 Nations In Making It Illegal To Smack Children & Canada Isn't On The List
"No more 'defence of reasonable punishment.' That is all in the past."
People walking in Snowdonia, Wales. Right: Stock image demonstrating a mother hitting her child.
Wales has officially made it illegal to smack or slap your child, joining 63 other countries around the world to introduce similar laws.
The country enacted the law on March 21 to protect children from physical abuse, laws which are still yet to be implemented in Canada.
A Welsh Government press release outlined that "this landmark legislation removes the archaic 160-year-old legal defence and provides children the same protection from assault as adults."
The law is called the Children Act 2020 and it bans everyone in Wales, including visitors, from any form of physical punishment against a child, including smacking, slapping, hitting and shaking, making such punishments illegal.
The country will join Scotland, becoming the second nation from Great Britain to outlaw slapping and smacking children. England has not introduced similar laws.
The first country to ever outlaw the physical punishment of children was Sweden back in 1979, and since then, 63 countries have followed suit, making Wales the 64th country on the list, reported the BBC.
Canada is yet to pass similar laws. Under Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, "Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child," as long as "the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances."
This means that parents or caregivers can use minor physical punishments against children, which are "transitory and trifling."
Government officials in Wales celebrated the new law and Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan, called it a "historic moment for children and their rights in Wales."
"I have campaigned to make physical punishment illegal for more than 20 years," said Morgan. "Physical punishment is illegal in Wales, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me."
Mark Drakeford, the First Minister for Wales, also chimed in and showed his delight regarding the law's passing.
"No more 'defence of reasonable punishment.' That is all in the past. There is no place for physical punishment in a modern Wales," said Drakeford.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.