Children's Commissioners: Smacking ban should be murdered 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s legacy
The UK’s children’s commissioners have called for a wholesale smacking ban
The UK’s children’s commissioners have called for a complete ban on smacking children, which is already law in Wales and Scotland, but not in England and Northern Ireland.
The Children's Commissioner for England has said this could be the legacy of Sara Sharif, who was murdered by her father and stepmother in Woking in 2023.
Wales made any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, illegal in March 2022 while Scotland introduced a similar ban in November 2020.
According to the Children Act 2004, it is unlawful to hit your child, except where it is “reasonable punishment”, and this is judged on a case-by-case basis.
Calls for a ban after Sara Sharif murder
The murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in 2023 led to renewed calls from campaigners for a total ban across the UK.
The girl’s father Urfan Sharif claimed in a call to police after fleeing England that he “did legally punish” his daughter and that he “beat her up too much”.
He and Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool were jailed for life in December 2024 for Sara’s murder.
Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel said: “I am haunted by the words of Sara Sharif’s abusive father that he ‘legally punished her’ until she died.
“Let this be Sara’s legacy, that all children in the United Kingdom are given the same protection as anyone else.”
The commissioners made their pleas as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was set to return to Parliament on Thursday for its second reading in the House of Lords.
A joint statement from Dame Rachel, alongside her counterparts Rocio Cifuentes for Wales, Nicola Killean for Scotland and Chris Quinn in Northern Ireland, insisted “loving, well-meaning” parents have no need to be concerned about a change in the law.
They said: “As Children’s Commissioners we are united in our view that any defence in law that permits assault for the purpose of physical punishment of children is outdated and morally repugnant.
“The experience of Scotland and Wales, where children are already offered full protection from assault and violence, does not suggest any increase in parents and carers being criminalised – no loving, well-meaning parent has anything to fear from a defence to assault being removed from the law.”
Change to the law on smacking being looked at
Earlier this year education minister Stephen Morgan said while the UK Government was “looking closely” at legal changes made in Wales and Scotland, it had “no plans to legislate at this stage” for England.
Mr Morgan said the Government wanted to “look at the evidence” before taking such a “significant legislative step”.
In March, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said smacking children should be consigned to the history books, adding that it puts children at risk of “really significant physical harm” and is a “Victorian” punishment.
Professor Andrew Rowland, officer for child protection at the royal college, said: “Reducing the number of cases of child abuse must begin with a clear message from society that physical punishment of children, whatever the circumstances, is unacceptable.
“It is essential that the law is changed to explicitly prohibit all physical punishment of children.”
Also backing the call, the NSPCC said “as long as the law tolerates some level of physical force against children, their wellbeing will always be a matter of judgment about what is ‘reasonable'”.