A silent epidemic: child sexual abuse in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD:

Thirteen-year-old Asim* was quieter than usual as he returned home from a motorcycle workshop in Jhelum after his first day as a chotu – a common term for apprentices. His father, a rickshaw driver, noticed, but asked him casually over dinner about his day at his new job. “I will never go to that workshop again,” Asim, an eighth-grade dropout, said in little more than a whisper.

“Why not,” his father asked in a gentle but probing tone. “I just don’t like it there,” the son said, avoiding his father’s gaze. His father sensed that something was wrong. Suddenly he had no appetite, he put his hand on his son’s shoulder and told him that he could tell him anything. Asim began to cry.

Amid sobs, he said that the workshop ustad – a term used for owners or seniors in workshops – had taken him to a nearby house under construction on the pretext that some bricks and tiles needed to be laid on the second floor. However, when they entered the house, the mechanic groped him from behind, put a cloth in his mouth and raped him. Asim added that he was then given Rs 100 to buy sweets and threatened with severe violence if he told his father about the incident. His father, however, consoled his son and decided to take legal action against the mechanic, whose wedding was to take place in a month.

The next morning, the police arrested the perpetrator, visited the crime scene, conducted forensic examination and arrested the accused. This began a long journey to justice for Asim, his family and many other children who are abandoned by society every day. Just recently, it was reported that a school principal in the Moach Goth area of ​​Karachi allegedly raped a 10-year-old student.

The FIR stated that the headmaster had been teaching three sisters. On June 21, the report added, he called the mother and insisted that she send her daughters to his house to receive Eidi. Despite initial refusal, the mother finally sent her daughters due to his persistence. However, when she returned home, the survivor told her mother that the headmaster had taken her to another room and raped her. She also admitted that he had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident.

From the streets to schools, from homes to seminaries, cases of sexual violence against children are numerous and the situation is alarming. Even the Ministry of Human Rights acknowledges the dire situation of children’s rights. “The number of child abductions is increasing rapidly across Pakistan,” the ministry’s website states, before adding that the problem of “missing and abducted children is alarming.”

In 2021, the ministry established the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA). The law was named after Zainab, a six-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and killed from her home in Kasur in 2018. The law applies to all four provinces of Pakistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and defines the child as any person below the age of 18.

Despite the ministry’s open admission, the figures on these heinous crimes are extremely disturbing. “In 2023, 11 children were abused every day,” according to data compiled by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Sahil. According to the NGO, acquaintances and relatives are usually involved in the horrific acts.

In its report, Cruel Numbers 2023, the NGO said a total of 4,213 cases of child abuse (CSA) were reported from the four provinces plus the National Capital Territory of Islamabad (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The number included reported cases of child sexual abuse, abduction, missing children and child marriages. In 2022, the number of CSA was 4,253.

The report added that a gender-segregated analysis of the data showed that of the total reported cases, 2,251 (53 percent) of the victims were girls and 1,962 (47 percent) were boys. The reported age shows that children between 6 and 15 years are most vulnerable to abuse. In this age group, more boys are abused than girls, the report added.

In addition, children aged 0-5 were also sexually abused. Many of the perpetrators were acquaintances, but also relatives, family members, strangers and female accomplices. The geographical statistics show that out of the total 4,213 cases reported, 75 percent were reported from Punjab, 13 percent from Sindh, 7 percent from Islamabad, 3 percent from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2 percent from Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). Sahil added that 91 percent of the cases were registered with the police, which is a positive sign.

Apart from Sahil’s statistics, the National Commission for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) annual report for the year 2023-2024 highlights some other areas where children are facing difficulties. It states that the problem of out-of-school children (OOSC) in Pakistan continues to be a significant challenge as over 26.2 million children are currently out of school, of which 10.14 million are in Punjab, 7 million in Sindh, 3.6 million in Balochistan and 0.8 million are in the ICT sector.

In addition to the OOSC rate, the report says that the issue of birth registration is also of great concern, as Pakistan has one of the lowest birth registration rates in the world: only 42 percent of children under five are registered. According to UNICEF, Pakistan is home to about 9 percent of the world’s 166 million unregistered children.

The NCRC report draws on a 2021 UNICEF report on child marriage and states that there are nearly 19 million child brides in Pakistan; one in six young women were married as children. The report also talks about digital safety and states that according to the Cyber ​​Tip Report for 2022, a shocking 2,059,884 cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation were reported online in Pakistan, giving Pakistan the fourth highest figure globally. Given these challenges, it says, the NCRC has made protecting children’s digital safety a top priority and has been actively addressing online child protection concerns.

When children are sexually abused, it has countless negative effects on their cognitive, social and physical development. Dr. Tahira Rubab, a clinical psychologist and sex therapist, has listed five common but important reasons for child sexual abuse. Sexual frustration in society tops the list. If children are not educated about sexual abuse, they become vulnerable, the expert said. Even those involved in child abuse cases have been victims of such violence at some point in their lives. The doctor added that some abusers are attracted to children and therefore target them. Moreover, children are powerless and it is easy to seduce or threaten them.

The psychologist said that many children who are subjected to sexual abuse suffer “lifelong trauma” and struggle to cope with their married life. They have trouble building a relationship with their partner because they are not only afraid but also have very low self-confidence.

“Some children are very concerned about their bodies,” said Dr. Rubab, before describing that these children face a number of problems. Some engage in sexual activity, some develop unnatural sexual fantasies, some are afraid of marriage, and some children exhibit completely different sexual behavior from normal children.

“Confidence is so shattered that these children cannot manage their normal professional and social lives,” said Dr. Rubab. Victims keep remembering the incident and feel traumatized. “They find it difficult to regain trust in other people,” she explained, adding that this leads to psychological problems. To protect children, the psychologist said, it is crucial to familiarize themselves with the concept of “age-appropriate sex education for children” because if they do not know their bodies, they will not share anything, even if something bad is done to them.

Dr Rubab stressed that it is very important to teach children about “good and bad touch” as the “perpetrators” can also be young. She added that it is crucial to educate students and pupils about sexuality and married life. “Many mental health problems can be overcome if the 18-25 age group is properly educated about sexuality,” she said. “This can also lead to a reduction in cases of child sexual abuse.” She stressed that parents also need to learn.

One of the reasons we fail our children every day, according to Dr Rubab, is the idea that age-appropriate sex education is inappropriate or not necessary at all. “The worst thing is that many people still believe that child sexual abuse does not exist in Pakistan and that all such stories are made up,” she lamented, saying there is also a misconception that sex or sexuality is not discussed in religion or is not allowed.