Parental corporal punishment in the 21st century
Only 15% of children worldwide are fully protected by the law against all corporal punishment[1], and event this is no guarantee that is won't happen. For example despite corporal punishment being illegal in Finland since 1983, 41% of respondents to a 2025 poll from Finland's Central Union for Child Welfare admitted to having used some form of violent discipline on their children, which unfortunately represents an increase since 2017.[2] According to UNICEF 67% of children worldwide have experienced violent discipline in the last month. Europe and Northern America as well as Australia and New Zealand both have the lowest percentages of any Sustainable Development Goal region but are still tied at 41%.[3] The WHO claims 17% of children have experienced severe corporal punishment in the last month.[4]
