Introduction

The following study about the elimination of the use of Corporal Punishment against children has been done as part of the global strategy of Save the Children Sweden for Latin America. The main objective of this study was to organise regional information on the use of violence against children, and specifically Corporal Punishment, so that civil society and the nations could all encourage the protection of children together against any type of violence both by providing information and promoting changes in the current legislation.
 
The specific objectives of the project were to identify any possible legal vacuums and violations to the right of children to personal integrity. In order to achieve this, we conducted a systematized and legal analysis of international and national norms, of the jurisprudence on the issue, and of the work on propagation and training as well as the raising of public awareness of the eradication of corporal punishment in Latin America at national and international levels.
 
The purpose of the study is not only to present information on the legislation and its weaknesses and/or vacuums in order to prohibit corporal punishment but also to provide the public authorities and the civil society with the necessary legal tools so that they both can achieve the eradication of Corporal Punishment.

The strategy of the investigation was to deal with the legal situation of Corporal Punishment in those areas where its application is most frequent, such as the family, schools, and the institutions holding children who have violated the law, as well as the public and private institutions that care and protect children and adolescents. 

To that end, the study presents a number of items: first, an analysis of the national legislation of 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean on the issue of Corporal Punishment of children; second, the decisions and the jurisprudence of the international agencies for protection human rights including both the Universal System and the Inter-American system of protection of human rights; third, the jurisprudence and the decisions issued by jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional agencies within the scope of each Nation, competent with the protection of the rights of  children in Belize, Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay.

The methodology of the study combined different types of work such as the gathering and organisation of information, the analytical reading of documents from the point of view of the international standards of protection of the rights of the child, and the advice of experts and key actors in each country.

The methodology used helped us achieve a reading of the legal situation of Corporal Punishment in each country, establish the tendencies throughout the continent, and compose recommendations and action proposals both to promote changes in the country and to activate the international mechanisms for the protection of rights, all this with the aim of achieving postures and declarations in favour of the explicit prohibition of Corporal Punishment.

An important strategy for the whole project was to involve NGO’s (non governmental organizations) and public institutions as our counterparties, and to submit preliminary conclusions of each phase for their comments and suggestions. This strategy was successful because it encouraged several organizations to consider the juridical perspective within their day-to-day work of protection and defence of children, and to use the results of the study for the promotion of the necessary changes in their countries towards the goal of eradicating Corporal Punishment.