KARACHI, Dec 23: Speakers at a workshop on Dimensions of Child Abuse stressed that social attitudes towards children needed to be changed. They called for the enactment of child-friendly laws aimed not only at improving their status but also to make them feel safe and secured segment of the society.
It was the first day of the two-day workshop organized jointly by the UNICEF and the National Association of Business, Professional and Agricultural Women.
The speakers emphasized on the need for the introduction and implementation of specific legislation to ensure that children were enjoying their due rights and not being victimized in any sense.
They pointed out rampant child abuse in the country and said that most of these happenings go unreported. They observed that the people who managed to hide facts in this regard did not know that, in fact, they were encouraging perpetrators of this crime.
They said that the issue of child abuse must be brought to light, discussed and debated widely so that it could be resolved.
Recalling that Pakistan was a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), the speakers said the government had an obligation to enact and streamline its laws related to children in conformity with the convention.
At least, they added, the little number of of such laws already formulated, should be implemented effectively and strictly to check child abuse.
They also demanded abolition of archaic laws against children’s rights. In this regard, they pointed out that Section 89 of the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code), based on a 1860 law, empowered parents/teachers/ guardians to use corporal punishment as a means to discipline and correct the behaviour of children under the age of 12 years. However, such a punishment must be moderate and reasonable. In case the punishment inflicts injuries, as defined in Section 319 (hurt) and 320 (grievously hurt) of the PPC, then the adult can be booked under the sections 323 and 325 of the PPC respectively and can be penalized and imprisoned for it.
The speakers said that these sections were rarely applied in the country.
There are more than 70 million children in the country and out of them 26 million are under the age of five years. The strength of children in the age group of 5-18 is 46 million but a large number of them, especially those living in rural areas, do not go to schools due to poverty or certain other reasons.
The speakers observed that a considerable number of these unfortunate children either fell victim of child labour or indulged in illegal activities ultimately. Those who were caught, they added, eventually reached jails to spend a considerable period of their lives waiting for the dispensation of justice.
Giving example of the Juvenile jails in Karachi, they said that out of nearly 400 minor inmates, only 40 had been convicted so far while the rest (90 per cent) kept waiting as under-trial prisoners.
The speakers also criticized attitude of the police which, in many cases, produced minor prisoners in the court in handcuffs. They condemned the police for not adhering to the law which banned hand-cuffing of minors.
In order to ensure proper protection to children’s rights, they said, all the law enforcement agencies must be sensitized.
One of the speakers said that the children, who were languishing in jails even for heinous crimes, should not be deprived of their rights as children.
The speakers observed that majority of the Sindh people lived around the poverty line and as such their children were neglected. Condition of female and special children was even more pathetic, they added.
Among those who spoke at the workshop were Anis Jillani, Sheeba Shah, Shireen Rahmatullah, Mushtaq Samoo, Perveen Shaikh, Kanwal Sindhi, Ishaq Soomro, Dr Habiba Hassan, Aisha Mehnaz and Shamim Kazmi.
