Provinces urged to adopt Zainab Alert Bill

Published January 14, 2020
The civil society representatives lauded the passage of a child protection bill, Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA), by the National Assembly on Jan 10. — File
The civil society representatives lauded the passage of a child protection bill, Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA), by the National Assembly on Jan 10. — File

LAHORE: The civil society representatives lauded the passage of a child protection bill, Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA), by the National Assembly on Jan 10.

The bill was passed two years after minor Zainab Ansari was found raped and murdered in Kasur. Zainab was the eighth victim in a series of similar killings of minor girls in Kasur.

The Zainab Alert Bill lists some stringent measures and punishments for the perpetrators as well the police officers who cause hindrance to the provision of justice in any way.

It also states that under the law, the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA) will be set up. The director general of the agency will be appointed by the prime minister and it will be tasked with maintaining a database of missing and abducted children and work closely with the helpline, 1099, which will forward all reported cases to the agency.

The rights’ organisations have urged for all provincial assemblies to adopt the bill, which is now only applicable in the Islamabad territory. They also suggest that some amendments be made before the bill is presented in the provinces.

Rights activist Samson Salamat suggested to the government to have uniformity in dealing with child abuse incidents across the country. He expressed concerns about the ambiguity in the bill, saying it had used the word ‘alert’ which should be clearly defined. He said perhaps the bill should be titled as the Child Protection Bill, which would include many other victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

“It is very important for the government to make sure that a one-window facility is introduced to register a missing child complaint to help the people get away from going to from one department to another,” he said.

“We shall continue raising our voice against child sexual abuse to attract the attention of the government functionaries and all stakeholders for proper legislation and effective implantation mechanism,” Mr Salamat expressed his resolve.

Iftikhar Mubarik, the executive director Search for Justice, said the bill should definitely be adopted by the provinces but the real challenge, even after passing of the law through Senate, would be establishing the ZARRA Agency and ensuring human resource and a working budget.

“Some measures are practically not right, such as speedy wrapping up of a case which might result in wrong answers. Police may get the wrong person in their quest for wrapping up the case. But hopefully, there would be SOPs adopted to prevent this from happening.”

Mr Mubarik said that it was generally seen that the laws like this were based on knee-jerk reactions and in fact preventive policies should be brought forward.

“We need more awareness campaigns where teachers and families are trained, about violence and sexual abuse,” he said.

“Most missing and runaway children do so because of domestic violence, etc,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Large projects again?
Updated 03 Jun, 2024

Large projects again?

Government must focus on debt sustainability by curtailing its spending and mobilising more resources.
Local power
03 Jun, 2024

Local power

A SIGNIFICANT policy paper was recently debated at an HRCP gathering, calling for the constitutional protection of...
Child-friendly courts
03 Jun, 2024

Child-friendly courts

IN a country where the child rights debate has been a belated one, it is heartening to note that a recent Supreme...
Dutch courage
Updated 02 Jun, 2024

Dutch courage

ECP has been supported wholeheartedly in implementing twisted interpretations of democratic process by some willing collaborators in the legislature.
New World cricket
02 Jun, 2024

New World cricket

HAVING finished as semi-finalists and runners-up in the last two editions of the T20 World Cup in familiar ...
Dead on arrival?
02 Jun, 2024

Dead on arrival?

Whatever the motivations for Gaza peace plan, it is difficult to see the scheme succeeding.