THE number of reported child sexual abuse cases in Pakistan has risen by 10 per cent in the last year, with roughly 11 children abused every day.

A total of 4,139 cases were registered in 2016, an increase from 3,768 in 2015. The report says that 2,410 girls and 1,729 boys were victims of sexual exploitation last year. Some 45pc of the victims were between the ages of six and 15.

Activists working to fight child abuse have said the problem is widespread but difficult to quantify because victims are often unwilling to speak out.

In 2015, Pakistan took a step towards punishing those guilty of abusing young girls with life imprisonment or even death after an influential parliamentary committee voted to amend the current laws. But the amendment only appears to address the sexual abuse of girls aged 14 and under, not of the boys.

Also in 2015, a huge scandal emerged involving at least 280 children who the lawyers said were filmed while being sexually abused, with their parents blackmailed over the footage.

The government should take serious note of this issue for the protection of our children.

Mariya Zafar

Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018