Switzerland moves to ban smacking of children

National Council wants to enshrine non-violent education in law Keystone-SDA

The House of Representatives has voted to enshrine the principle of non-violent parenting in Swiss law.

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Lawmakers voted 134 to 56 with 2 abstentions, in favour of the amendment to the law, which will now go to the Senate.

A Swiss People’s Party minority did not support the bill, whose spokesperson described the measure as unnecessary.

But a majority agreed with the government’s proposal, which said the principle of non-violent parenting would serve as a model. It would clearly signal that corporal punishment and other forms of degrading treatment of children would not be tolerated.

The bill is based on a motion by parliamentarian Christine Bulliard-Marbach, which was supported by both chambers of parliament in 2021 and 2022.

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Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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