France Bans Physical and Psychological Violence Against Children, Yet Over 30% of Parents Admit to Physical Discipline
Despite a 2019 French law banning physical and psychological violence against children, a new survey by Fondation pour l'Enfance reveals that roughly 80% of parents still admit to using verbal or psychological violence, and over 30% admit to physical discipline.
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- 📰 Published: April 17, 2026 at 23:20
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(Central News Agency reporter Tseng I-hsuan in Paris on the 17th) France passed a law in 2019 prohibiting parents from inflicting physical and psychological violence on their children. However, the latest survey results show that about 80% of parents surveyed admitted to having used verbal or psychological violence against their children in the past year, and over 30% of parents even admitted to having used physical violence.
France banned physical and psychological violence in everyday educational practices by law in July 2019, stipulating that parents exercising parental rights must not use physical or psychological violence, though there are no specific penalties. Severe cases such as child abuse must still be severely punished.
The Foundation for Childhood (Fondation pour l'Enfance) published a research report today. Foundation Director Joëlle Sicamois stated on the franceinfo program that physical punishment has decreased slightly, but the decline is very small.
According to the survey, 83% of parents admitted to using verbal violence such as yelling, or psychological violence such as threatening, giving the cold shoulder, or ignoring in the past year; 37% of parents admitted to using physical violence.
Sicamois believes that violence against children is 'no small matter,' and younger children will think 'their feelings are not listened to or valued. They will feel that when they cannot control their emotions, the adults' response is to hit them to teach them a lesson.'
Libération mentioned that the violence defined by the Foundation for Childhood includes physical violence such as pinching, slapping, spanking, kicking, shaking, hair-pulling, and ear-pulling, or psychological violence such as yelling, insulting, mocking, belittling, intimidating, threatening, and making the child feel guilty, as well as failing to meet the child's basic needs for affection, care, and protection, and making the child witness family quarrels.
Clémence Lisembard, head of the Foundation for Childhood's planning and development department, explained that the problem of violence is related to educational intention, frequency, and intensity. If a parent occasionally 'speaks loudly because they are a bit tired, that's fine; but yelling every day, thinking it is right, and using this behavior as an educational model is the key to identifying everyday educational violence.'
The research also shows significant differences in concepts between parents. Men are more inclined to believe that physical punishment is reasonable, with 40% of men thinking that some children need physical punishment to learn how to behave, while women holding the same view account for 25%.
Le Figaro reported that Sicamois stated: 'We hope the public will pay attention to this issue. We spend a lot of time discussing why domestic violence is so serious in our country, so we might as well start by reviewing the way we educate our children.' (Editor: Chen Yen-chun) 1150417
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France banned physical and psychological violence in everyday educational practices by law in July 2019, stipulating that parents exercising parental rights must not use physical or psychological violence, though there are no specific penalties. Severe cases such as child abuse must still be severely punished.
The Foundation for Childhood (Fondation pour l'Enfance) published a research report today. Foundation Director Joëlle Sicamois stated on the franceinfo program that physical punishment has decreased slightly, but the decline is very small.
According to the survey, 83% of parents admitted to using verbal violence such as yelling, or psychological violence such as threatening, giving the cold shoulder, or ignoring in the past year; 37% of parents admitted to using physical violence.
Sicamois believes that violence against children is 'no small matter,' and younger children will think 'their feelings are not listened to or valued. They will feel that when they cannot control their emotions, the adults' response is to hit them to teach them a lesson.'
Libération mentioned that the violence defined by the Foundation for Childhood includes physical violence such as pinching, slapping, spanking, kicking, shaking, hair-pulling, and ear-pulling, or psychological violence such as yelling, insulting, mocking, belittling, intimidating, threatening, and making the child feel guilty, as well as failing to meet the child's basic needs for affection, care, and protection, and making the child witness family quarrels.
Clémence Lisembard, head of the Foundation for Childhood's planning and development department, explained that the problem of violence is related to educational intention, frequency, and intensity. If a parent occasionally 'speaks loudly because they are a bit tired, that's fine; but yelling every day, thinking it is right, and using this behavior as an educational model is the key to identifying everyday educational violence.'
The research also shows significant differences in concepts between parents. Men are more inclined to believe that physical punishment is reasonable, with 40% of men thinking that some children need physical punishment to learn how to behave, while women holding the same view account for 25%.
Le Figaro reported that Sicamois stated: 'We hope the public will pay attention to this issue. We spend a lot of time discussing why domestic violence is so serious in our country, so we might as well start by reviewing the way we educate our children.' (Editor: Chen Yen-chun) 1150417
Choose to stand with the truth, your every sponsorship is the power to protect freedom of the press.
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The text, pictures, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.