Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly and even done by oneself in sadomasochistic or religious contexts.
The strokes are typically aimed at the unclothed back of a person, though they can be administered to other areas of the body. For a moderated subform of flagellation, described as bastinado, the soles of a person's bare feet are used as a target for beating (see foot whipping).
In some circumstances the word flogging is used loosely to include any sort of corporal punishment, including birching and caning. However, in British legal terminology, a distinction was drawn between flogging (with a cat o' nine tails) and whipping (formerly with a whip, but since the early 19th century with a birch). In Britain these were both abolished in 1948.
Terminology and implements The terms "flogging", "whipping" and "scourging" are sometimes used interchangeably but can denote specific tools or contexts. Common implements include: +ImplementDescriptionBirch rodA bundle of birch twigs bound together, used in British judicial and school punishments.Cat o' nine tailsA multi‑corded whip traditionally used in naval and military punishments.KnoutA stiff, braided leather whip used in Imperial Russia.SjambokA heavy leather or plastic whip originating from Southern Africa.SwitchA single flexible twig or branch, often used informally or for minor corporal punishment.
Current or recent past use as punishment
Officially abolished in most countries, flogging or whipping, including foot whipping in some countries, is still a common punishment in some parts of the world, particularly in countries using Islamic law and in some territories which were former British colonies.
Singapore and Malaysia Caning may be ordered by the courts as a penalty for some categories of crime in Singapore and Malaysia, as a legacy of British colonial rule in the 19th Century. Unlike typical floggings sentenced by Sharia courts which are public, these punishments take place behind closed doors, with the accused tied to specially constructed frames and carried out with a doctor in attendance. As of 2024 in Singapore, caning and imprisonment is mandated for approximately 30 different offenses, including certain cases of rape, robbery, and drug trafficking. In Malaysia, 60 offenses during 2024 were subject to caning. Judges routinely mandated caning as punishment for crimes such as kidnapping, rape, and robbery, but also nonviolent offenses -- narcotics possession, criminal breach of trust, migrant smuggling, immigration offenses, etc. On 5 September 2023, Tanzania was ordered to remove corporal punishment from its laws by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, in order to bring those laws in line with the charter establishing the court.
Maldives In the Maldives, Sharia law is mixed with English common law, flogging (but not stoning or amputation) is legal punishment, most commonly used on those convicted of having extramarital sex, who are most commonly women. The object used to lash is typically a paddle, but a "less harsh" tool -- peacock feathers, handkerchief, or "a single lash with a string of 100 rosary beads, each bead counting as a separate lash" -- may be substituted when the offender being lashed has more political influence.
Gulf states According to journalist Robert Fisk, from circa 1993-1995, "hundreds" of Asian young women guest workers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sentenced to flogging (as many as 200 lashes) by sharia courts before being expelled "penniless" to their home countries for alleged theft or "supposed immoral behaviour". The US State Department Human Rights Practices Report for 2021 states that flogging under the UAE federal penal code was abolished, but is still imposed under the UAE's separate sharia courts, which deal with criminal and family law cases, for adultery, defamation of character, and drug or alcohol use. (The next year, the 2022 report did not mention Corporal Punishment in the UAE at all.)
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, lashing is the prescribed punishment (hadd) for offences such as homosexuality, fornication, adultery, drinking of alcohol, theft, and slander. Lashing is also used as a discretionary punishment (ta'zir) for many offences, such as violating gender interaction laws. Possibly the most famous contemporary case of lashing is that of Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger who was sentenced a number of times from 2012–2014 to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for "insulting Islam" online. In April 2020 the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia abolished flogging as a form of punishment, but as of 2024 a draft of the government's proposed written legal code leaked to the public included lashing as punishment.
Islamic Republic of Iran
According to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, over a 30+ year period, courts in the IRI have sentenced "thousands" of individuals to flogging, "sometimes up to more than 300 or 400 lashes". There are "at least" 148 offenses punishable by flogging in the Islamic Republic. In addition to Sharia hudood punishments for alcohol use, fornication, etc., flogging is also used in the interrogation of detainees. In June 2026, Parastoo Ahmadi and eight other members of the group that were involved in the Caravanserai Concert were convicted of "public decency through the production and publication of obscene and immoral content" and were sentenced by a criminal court to 74 lashes, based on the release of a video that showed Ahmadi performing while not wearing a hijab.Irwin, Zane; and Hakim, Shirin. "Iranian Singer Sentenced to 74 Lashes for Performing Without Hijab",The New York Times, June 23, 2026. Accessed June 24, 2026. "An Iranian court has sentenced an outspoken female singer to 74 lashes for performing at a concert without wearing a hijab, according to a person close to her family and state media news reports. The punishment indicated a possible tightening of religious rules for women under an Iranian political order reshaped by war. The singer, Parastoo Ahmadi, was sentenced last week at a closed trial in Qom Province along with eight band and crew colleagues."
Afghanistan
After the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan in 2021, they announced reintroduction of Islamic law including public flogging, denouncing international human rights activists who criticized the practice. On 23 November 2022, 14 convicts were flogged in a sports stadium in the province of Logar while hundreds of people watched.
Pakistan In 1979 Hudud Ordinances were enacted in Pakistan as part of the Islamization of Pakistan by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, (Hudud punishments are part of sharia). It adding new criminal offences and new punishments including whipping, (as well as amputation, and stoning to death).Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1296Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1292
In 1996 the Abolition of Whipping Act was passed, allowing only hadd sentences/punishments to be whipping/lashing, which "greatly reduced" its use. In 2006, after much controversy and criticism parts of the Hudud law was extensively revised by the Women's Protection Bill making it less difficult and dangerous to prove an allegation of rape.
Indonesia
In the religiously conservative province of Aceh (the only area of Indonesia that enforces Sharia law), women offenders are flogged by other women to avoid mixing of the sexes. 108 people were punished for various offences in 2015, according to Amnesty International. According to the U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, from January to October 2024, there were five cases of caning punishments reported in Aceh. In one case in September 2024 nine individuals received seven lashes for online gambling (as well as 39 days in prison).
Brunei
As of 2024, Brunei has a Sharia Penal Code (SPC) which applies caning for sharia offenses. There are also offenses under secular law punished by caning. Canings are prohibited for women and males under 8 or over 50, or if the doctor (who must attend any caning) calls for the caning to be interrupted for medical reasons. In 2024, no canings were administered in Brunei.
Syria In Syria, torture of political dissidents, POWs and civilians was extremely common during the reign of Hafez and Bashar Al-Assad (1971-2024), and flagellation was one of the most common forms of torture. The extremist Islamist group ISIS also frequently used flagellation, commonly tying a prisoner to a ceiling and whipping them for failing to follow ISIS's strict laws or for other reasons. Raqqa Stadium, a makeshift prison, was a common venue for prisoners of ISIS to be tortured. Flagellation was also used by the more moderate opposition Free Syrian Army, but there were no reports of it being practiced by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Historical use as punishment
Judaism According to the Torah (Deuteronomy 25:1–3), and Rabbinic law, lashes (Malkot) may be given for offenses that do not merit capital punishment. The number of lashes may not exceed 40 strokes. However, in the absence of a Sanhedrin (a legislative or judicial assembly of elders), corporal punishment is not practiced in Jewish law. Halakha specifies the lashes must be given in sets of three, so the total number cannot exceed 39. Also, the person whipped is first judged whether they can withstand the punishment. If not, the number of lashes is decreased. Jewish law (Halakha) limited flagellation to forty strokes, and in practice delivered thirty-nine, so as to avoid any possibility of breaking this law due to a miscount.
Antiquity
In the Roman Empire, flagellation was often used as a prelude to crucifixion, and in this context is sometimes referred to as scourging. Most famously according to the gospel accounts, this occurred prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Due to the context of the flagellation of Jesus, the method and extent may have been limited by local practice, though it was done under Roman law. Tierney, John j. (1909). "Flagellation". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Whips with small pieces of metal or bone at the tips were commonly used. Such a device could easily cause disfigurement and serious trauma, such as ripping pieces of flesh from the body or loss of an eye. In addition to causing severe pain, the victim would approach a state of hypovolemic shock due to loss of blood.
The Romans reserved this treatment for non-citizens, as stated in the and , dating from 195 and 123 BC. The poet Horace refers to the (horrible whip) in his Satires. Typically, the one to be punished was stripped naked and bound to a low pillar so that he could bend over it, or chained to an upright pillar so as to be stretched out. Two lictors (some reports indicate scourgings with four or six lictors) alternated blows from the bare shoulders down the body to the soles of the feet. There was no limit to the number of blows inflicted—this was left to the lictors to decide, though they were normally not supposed to kill the victim. Nonetheless, Livy, Suetonius and Josephus report cases of flagellation where victims died while still bound to the post. Flagellation was referred to as "half death" by some authors, as many victims died shortly thereafter. Cicero reports in , "" ("taken away for a dead man, shortly thereafter he was dead").
From Middle Ages to modern times
The Whipping Act was passed in England in 1530. Under this legislation, vagrants were to be taken to a nearby populated area "and there tied to the end of a cart naked and beaten with whips throughout such market town till the body shall be bloody".