Child
Protection Alliance, in collaboration with the Gambia Teachers’ Union, on
Monday held a daylong edification seminar for journalists in The Gambia, on
advocacy for legal reforms on degrading and humiliating punishment meted out to
children the world over.
Topics
discussed at the seminar included violence against children (VAC) drawn from a
UN Study on VAC, a study conducted by CPA in 2014 on physical and humiliating
punishment of children in The Gambia; physical and humiliating punishment and
its effects on children’s education and development, and the case for legal
prohibition of physical and humiliating punishment of children.
Considering
the negative impacts physical and humiliating punishment have on children and
societal development, it challenges the conscience of the world to come up with
a legal reform that would put in place some punitive measures to deter or
combat physical and humiliating punishment of children in schools and other
settings such as homes and in the community.
The
media and journalists are, therefore, considered pivotal in the advocacy for
legal reform of physical and humiliating punishment of children, hence the
CPA-GTU workshop.
“Everyone
accepts that the media is powerful. You are the mouth of the population, you
amplify the voice of the vulnerable, of the weak; and that is why we call you
here, so that together we can advocate for a legal reform to end physical and
humiliating punishment of children in all its settings,” CPA coordinator Njundu
Drammeh said.
He
also said the CPA and the media through the Gambia Press Union - which is a
member of the CPA, have been working together over the years on especially
issues of violence and other treatments of children.
“We
have also developed together a code of conduct for the protection of children,”
the CPA coordinator added, as he emphasized the significance of a legal reform
to end physical and humiliating punishment of children in all its settings
In
her remarks on the occasion, GPU representative at the workshop, Sarjo Camara,
said the Gambia media has been playing a very key role in informing the public
and changing the perception of the public on issues such as FGM and violence
against children.
“We will continue to work with CPA in the
areas of corporal punishment and other issues affecting children in this
country,” she added.
Gambia
Teachers’ Union General Secretary Marie Antoinette Corr emphasised the
importance of the media in the dissemination of information and advocacy.
Mrs
Corr, who is also chairperson of the Advocacy Task Force of CPA, said: “We know
the role the media plays, it plays a very important role, and your importance
can never be overemphasized; you represent the public interest…which is why we
invited you to discuss issues of humiliating and degrading punishment for
children.”
She
also announced that the GTU and CPA have developed a handbook on issues of
legal reform to end physical and humiliating punishment of children in all its
forms and settings.
