The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) reaffirmed its opposition to beating children in local schools when it appeared before a parliamentary select committee this week to press for the government to comply with the United Nations children’s rights standards on corporal punishment.
SASOD said in a press release issued yesterday that it held discussions on Wednesday with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Guyana’s Com-mitment to the United Nations Human Rights Council to abolish corporal punishment. The meeting followed written submissions the local organisation made to the committee earlier this year and it coincided with observances to mark Universal Children’s Day on November 20.
It said the discussions focused on the need for the Committee to strengthen dialogue with civil society partners, other stakeholders and more conservative groups on the issue of corporal punishment in schools.
They also touched on the importance of having groups and individuals working to create change, and working with the government to see that it complies with United Nations children’s rights standards on corporal punishment.
SASOD was represented at the meeting by member Collis Augustine, Advocacy and Communications Officer Schemel Patrick and Secretary of the Board of Trustees Zenita Nicholson.
The team made oral presentations and responded to questions based on the organisation’s earlier submissions.
Last December, SASOD launched a Child Protection Policy which echoed its commitment to ensuring that the rights of Guyana’s children are respected and protected.
“SASOD joins other rights groups in the call to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, particularly in the domestic and school contexts; strengthen and expand awareness-raising and education programmes and campaigns, in order to promote positive and alternative forms of discipline and respect for children’s rights, with the involvement of children, while raising awareness about the adverse consequences of corporal punishment in Guyana,” the release said.
The select committee that is spearheading national consultations on proposals by the United Nations Human Rights Council for the country to abolish corporal punishment as well as the death penalty and to decriminalise consensual same sex relations and end discrimination against Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons was set up in November last year.
