ISLAMABAD: More than 10 children became victims of abuse each day during 2018, a report said on Wednesday.

‘Cruel Numbers 2018’ was launched by Sahil, a non-government organisation (NGO), at the International Islamic University Islamabad old campus. An award ceremony for child-friendly newspaper and best volunteer was also held on the occasion.

According to the NGO, the report was compiled on the basis of data on child sexual abuse cases obtained from newspapers.

Sahil executive director suggests establishment of child-friendly courts

The purpose of the data is to provide facts and figures on child sexual abuse and its dynamics and to contribute to existing information on child sexual abuse in Pakistan.

The findings of the report show that in 2018, 3,832 child sexual abuse cases were reported in 85 newspapers from the four provinces, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The major categories of the reported cases were abduction 923, missing children, 452, rape 537, sodomy, 589, attempted rape, 345, gang rape, 156 and child marriages, 130.

The report revealed that rape cases had increased by 15pc compared to 2017.

In 2018, 92 murder cases were reported after sexual assault, which were, however, 16pc less than 2017.

In 2018, boys in the age bracket of six to 15 years and girls in the age bracket of five to 18 years were more vulnerable to child sexual abuse.

The report reveals that a total number of 5,628 abusers were identified.

Gangs were involved in 2,826 cases while number of abusers in 130 cases of child marriages and 876 cases of sexual abuse was not mentioned in newspapers.

According to area-wise classification of child abuse cases, 63pc cases were reported from Punjab, 27pc from Sindh, 4pc from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2pc from Balochistan, 3pc from Islamabad, 34pc from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and six cases were reported from Gilgit-Baltistan.

In 2018, 1,064 cases of abduction were reported in which 79pc were girls and 21pc were boys. In 130 child marriage cases, 85pc were girls and 15pc were boys.

Ten most vulnerable districts of child abuse cases were Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Vehari, Khanewal, Kasur, Lahore, Muzaffargarh, Okara and Sheikhupura.

Speaking on the occasion, spokesperson for the prime minister Nadeem Afzal Chan stressed the need for creating awareness among people about saving the children from abuse especially in under-developed areas.

He said Sahil’s report was based on reported cases but there were many cases which went unreported in media.

“Protection of children is the responsibility of the society and efforts will be made to collectively fulfill this duty. An awareness campaign for parents, schools, seminaries and other organisations will be launched in this regard,” he said.

He urged the civil society to present recommendations for making new laws for the protection of the child.

He admitted that there were many lacunas in the judicial system and the victims were not getting justice easily.

Sahil Executive Director Manizeh Bano presented a legal case study, highlighting the process and difficulties faced by families who are brave enough to come forward for a legal battle.

She said child friendly courts must be established, adding that the police department should provide separate reporting desks for FIRs for the victims of child sexual abuse.

IIUI Department Media and Communication Chairman Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal discussed the ethics of responsible media reporting.

He said the media should not highlight the name and pictures of the victims.

Progamme adviser in the Royal Norwegian Embassy Tanveer Ahmed Sheikh also spoke on the occasion.

IIUI Executive Director Dr Husnul Amin said ignoring sexual abuse was criminal negligence.

On the occasion, award for child-friendly newspaper was presented in two categories - national and regional newspaper.

Nawa-i-Waqt and Awami Awaz-Sukkur got the awards respectively. Touqir Waqas received the best volunteer award.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019