Strapping (punishment) Strapping (punishment) Strapping refers to the use of a strap as an implement of corporal punishment. It is typically a broad and heavy strip of leather, often with a hard handle, the more flexible 'blade' being applied to the offender. Probably because of the stiffness, the word "strap" is sometimes used interchangeably with a leather paddle. Other terms that are used interchangeably include whipping, lashing, and confusingly even in some official language, belting—in principle a belt is lighter, without a handle. These terms are strictly speaking reserved for other implements. The Scottish tawse is a forked version with two or
School corporal punishment Court of Human Rights. The Court ruled 5–4 in that case that the punishment was not severe enough to infringe the student's "freedom from degrading punishment" under article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The dissenting judges argued that the ritualised nature of the punishment, given after several days and without parental consent, should qualify it as "degrading punishment". "R (Williamson) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment" (2005) was an unsuccessful challenge to the prohibition of corporal punishment contained in the Education Act 1996, by several headmasters of private Christian schools who argued that it was