The deputies will have to decide on November 29th on a proposal of law against the ordinary educational violence (VEO). The purpose of the text is to promote awareness. No penal sanction is foreseen. Marlène Schiappa spoke in favor of this measure on a personal level.
On November 29, MPs will have to decide on a bill against ordinary educational violence (VEO) carried by the MP Maud Petit (Modem), reports Le Parisien. The text includes in its scope gestures such as spanking or slapping but also threats, cries and humiliating remarks.
The first article states that "children have the right to an education without violence" and that "the holders of parental authority can not use humiliating means such as physical and verbal violence, corporal punishment or punishment, suffering morals " .
Do not stigmatize parents
The law is educational and does not provide for a criminal sanction. The text, which should be inserted in Article 371-1 of the Civil Code on parental authority, is "a set of rights and duties whose purpose is the best interests of the child" . Its aim is not to stigmatize parents, but rather to raise awareness, encouraged by the launch of awareness campaigns and accompanying actions.
An anti-spanking provision excluding "any cruel, degrading or humiliating treatment, including any recourse to bodily violence" had already been included in the law "Equality and citizenship" adopted in December 2016. But the article was censored in January 2017 by the Constitutional Council, not on the substance but on the form, having been found to have no clear connection with the original bill.
Marlène Schiappa in favor of "personal"
"I support this bill to ban what is called corporal punishment [...], because I believe there is no violence (that is) educational, there is no small slap" , said Thursday on France Info Marlene Schiappa. The Secretary of State for Equality between Women and Men said there was "no collective decision by the government yet" on this text. "It's my personal position."
In the European Union, only five countries (Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and France) have still not implemented the ban on VEO, recalls Le Parisien.