The non-profit organisation Defence for Children International Belgium filed a lawsuit in the Brussels civil court on Thursday against the State of Belgium for “negligent legislative omission” regarding “ordinary educational violence.”
The association believes it is high time Belgium passes a law prohibiting corporal punishment of children by parents, educators, or teachers, among others.
“Ordinary educational violence, or VEO as it is called, can range from ordinary spanking or time-outs to more serious acts. Such violence against young people happens frequently. SOS Enfants recorded 6,154 reports of VEO in 2024,” said Jacques Fierens, the plaintiff’s counsel.
“This violence is unacceptable, and many countries have enacted laws to penalise such actions. Not Belgium,” Fierens continued. He pointed out that Belgium is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights treaties and conventions.
“We need an internal standard that translates into national law the rights recognised by treaties ratified by Belgium,” argued Fierens. He noted that while there have been legislative proposals on the issue, the most recent ones - from March and April 2021 - have not succeeded.
“This is a failure to meet an international legal obligation. There is negligent legislative omission. We believe the State of Belgium has acted negligently by not behaving as a careful and prudent legislator and by potentially violating an international legal standard,” he stated.
“We therefore ask the court to order the State of Belgium to address the lack of a legislative ban on all forms of corporal punishment of children,” Fierens added.