Sri Lanka is set to ban corporal punishment across all domains, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
"The Cabinet has endorsed revisions to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, effectively prohibiting corporal punishment in all contexts," Wickremesinghe said on X platform.
This decision "opens the path for legal safeguards ensuring the protection of every child in Sri Lanka from physical or psychological harm, in line with our commitment to uphold the rights and well-being of all children."
Under Sri Lanka's current laws, corporal punishment is permitted under section 341 of the Penal Code, with exceptions for schoolmasters, and section 82, which allows for actions deemed beneficial to a child or individual with impaired mental faculties, with the consent of their guardian.
However, these provisions have long been criticized as human rights violations, contravening Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits all forms of violence against children.
