LAHORE: On the directives of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) has launched a campaign in Kasur to raise awareness regarding child sexual abuse.

Led by Sarah Ahmad, the bureau’s chairperson, the drive was launched on Tuesday through a rally from TMA Hall to Noor Masjid roundabout.

Punjab Minister for Population Welfare retired Col Hashim Dogar, the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner also took part in the rally, titled Child Abuse and Begging Prevention. Civil society, non-governmental organisations and children took part in the rally.

Amin Ansari, the father of six-year-old Zainab -- who had been raped and killed in January 2018, volunteered to become the focal person for child abuse in Kasur.

“We want to instill in children and in society the importance of protecting children, and of the dangers revolving around sexual abuse,” said Ms Ahmad. “What has happened in Kasur is terrible and the CM took notice of the incident immediately. We will be establishing a CPWB in Kasur immediately.”

The team has already begun working on this, she said. In early 2018, after a series of murders, the bureau had established a small outreach centre at the TMA Hall. The lead person, Zahra Umar, who was there at the time, said the centre had not been equipped well and largely depended on the Lahore head office.

“We could only deal with cases that did not require much facilitation, mostly because we had no shelter or building. Sometimes this became problematic as even if a child was a victim, he or she would have had to spend time in the police station for his/her safety, which is not a good idea at all. We used to receive information, but then called a team from Lahore for following up.”

She said the unit was still in place, adding that awareness had been created in schools and colleges.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2019