The Council of Europe has chosen Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, to launch the "Hands up those who are against violence!" campaign on June 15th. Part of the long-term "Building a Europe for and with children" programme, the event includes an "awareness-raising campaign about the corporal punishment of children". "This campaign explains a note from the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg will focus on the need to ban the corporal punishment of children and promote a positive approach to the parental state". For years, the CoE has been insisting on this issue, with statistics confirming its relevance in all the nations of the old continent. "Corporal punishment is one of the most obvious forms of abuse on children, occurring in the very places in which they should be protected, such as at school and at home. In many countries, some forms of usual abuse of children are tolerated, especially those that take place at home". The CoE aims at having the physical or psychological abuse of children be recognised as a breach of human rights, to be prosecuted as such. In addition, the CoE launched the "Childhood and abuse" campaign based on the rule of the "4Ps": prevention, proceedings, protection and participation.
