UN wants to protect minors from the violence of bullfighting

Children and young people in Spain should no longer be able to attend bullfights.

This is the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The call by the highest international body for the rights of minors is based on a report by the Fondation Franz Weber.

Seven out of eight bullfighting countries urged to act

With Spain, the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has now also reached the heart and country of origin of bullfighting. This means that seven of the eight countries in which the «corrida» is still legal have been called upon by the UN to protect minors from the «harmful effects of bullfighting» and to prohibit their participation as bullfighters or spectators. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, has consistently based its recommendations on reports by the Fondation Franz Weber (FFW), which produced these reports as part of its «Childhood Without Violence» campaign.

Clear condemnation by the Committee

Thus, on 8 February 2018, the Committee clearly condemned the fact that Spain still allows the passive and active participation of children and young people in bullfights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child includes, among other things, the right of all minors to physical and mental integrity. At the same time, it entails the state's obligation to guarantee the protection of these rights. In the area of bullfighting, Spain is clearly in breach of this obligation. The FFW substantiates this with scientific evidence in its report. Children who participate passively or actively in bullfights are unequivocally exposed to extreme violence.

In addition to submitting the report on which the UN recommendation to Spain is based, the Fondation Franz Weber participated in June 2017 in the preparatory session between the Committee on the Rights of the Child and non-governmental organisations working in the field of child protection. The FFW report attracted particular attention with its finding that, by admitting minors to bullfights, Spain is not only passively exposing them to extreme violence. In fact, there are also more than 58 bullfighting schools in the Iberian country which, through their training, endanger the physical and mental integrity of children and young people.

Ban bullfights for all under 18

On 22 January 2018, Spain was questioned again on this topic during a public session of the UN Committee in Geneva, attended by a delegation of the Spanish government. “Bullfighting events expose children to extreme violence,” confirmed Gehad Madi, a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, unequivocally: therefore, these events must be banned for all those under the age of 18. And not only for young matadors, but also for underage spectators, Madi further emphasised: “The task of our committee is to protect children from extreme violence. We hope that Spain will now ban the participation of minors in bullfights.”

The responses of the Spanish delegation failed to convince the committee. It limited itself to the excuse that it was the autonomous regions that partly set a minimum age of 14 for bullfighting schools. Ultimately, however, it is the national government's responsibility to enforce child protection. The Committee on the Rights of the Child therefore concludes by recommending a legislative amendment to ban the participation of minors in bullfighting events throughout Spain. “Safeguarding the best interests of the child, the primary objective of the Convention, clearly outweighs the right of access to culture in this case,” adds Ana Mulá, legal counsel for the FFW.

By affirming, in the case of Spain as well, that bullfighting events violate children's rights, the UN reaffirms its clear stance. This puts additional pressure on all eight countries where bullfighting is still legal. In order to uphold the rights of their children, they are called upon to finally adapt their laws to protect minors from the violence of bullfighting. “The UN has sent yet another signal against this cruel, anachronistic form of animal cruelty,” says Vera Weber, President of the Fondation Franz Weber. “Because not only bulls and horses are the victims of bullfighting, but also children and young people. And thus society as a whole.”

This should in principle apply to hobby hunting as well, recommends IG Wild beim Wild. More on animal rights and the animal welfare problem of hobby hunting.