The Council of Europe (COE) presented in Ljubljana on Tuesday its campaign against corporal punishment of children under the slogan "Raise your hand against smacking". The initiative's objectives are prohibition of corporal punishment, promotion of positive parenting and raising awareness of children's rights throughout Europe.

Corporal punishment of children is banned by law in 18 European countries, however, Slovenia is not one of them, said Kristina Plavsak Kranjc of Ljubljana's Council of Europe Information Office.

Human Rights Ombudsman dr. Zdenka Cebasek - Travnik expressed her concern about the fact that corporal punishment was not yet prohibited and asked the government and parliament what stopped them from enacting corporal punishment ban.

Majda Erzar, director general of the Directorate for the Family at Labour, Family and Social Affairs Ministry, said that prohibition by law was an essential part of the campaign against corporal punishment.

Pavle Kornhauser, chair of the Forum against Corporal Punishment of Children with the Family at the Slovenian Friends of Youth Association (ZPMS), stressed that raising awareness of parents was the crucial point in fight against corporal punishment, as no legislation could prevent domestic violence from happening.

The most important thing is to change the mentality of parents, Kornhaser stressed, adding that many parents abusing their children were abused as children themselves, therefore, the change in mentality cannot happen quickly.

Kranjc and Martin Breskvar, chair of UNICEF's National Children's and Youths' Participation Committee, said that Sweden served as an example, as it was the first country to prohibit corporal punishment in 1979 and introduced parental training.

Dr. Cebasek - Travnik mentioned the project of children's rights ombudsmen, who provide assistance to children facing hard life situations. If the project proves successful, the ombudsman's office would propose a bill for permanent introduction of children's rights ombudsmen, she added.

Moreover, Barbara Zgajner Tavs, deputy group leader of Lipa, urged the government today to adopt a bill introducing zero tolerance for any kind of violence against children.