Cases of physical and sexual abuse on the rise in Pakistan’s Punjab « Khabarhub

A country known for providing a safe environment for its youth and children, but if recent reports and data from Punjab, Pakistan are to be believed, there is a wave of child abuse and violence there.

For example, in the province, a seminar teacher was arrested by security forces for attacking a 12-year-old student because he had not memorized the material.

The incident shocked the region’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and she demanded a report from the IG Police.

According to Bitter Winter, a human rights and religious freedom magazine, in late March a certain Mudassar Nazeer reported to the police that he had caught a well-known cleric, Maulana Abubakar Muavia, red-handed raping his 12-year-old son in Tandlianwala, Faisalabad. The cleric was arrested.

In another incident, a minor girl recently suffered severe burns in an acid attack in Burewala.

Nine-year-old Fatima was on her way home from school when an unknown cyclist threw acid in her face and then fled the scene of the accident.

As reported by ARY News, police busted a gang involved in child sexual abuse in Orangi Town in Karachi last week and rescued three minors.

Police said the investigation began with the disappearance of a child on May 11. During questioning in the case, the gang’s shocking activities came to light.

These incidents clearly demonstrate how vulnerable children in the country are to physical violence.

A report by the Pakistani non-profit organization Sahil painted an equally bleak picture, showing that 4,213 cases of child abuse were officially reported in the South Asian country in 2023.

A gender-disaggregated 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, Dawn News reported.

The report showed that children between the ages of 6 and 15 are most vulnerable to abuse.

In addition, children aged 0 to 5 were also sexually abused. The perpetrator category of Cruel Numbers 2023 found that acquaintances were still the most commonly involved in child sexual abuse, along with relatives, family members, strangers and female accomplices, Dawn News reported.

The people of Pakistan can expect the new government to make great efforts for the welfare of its citizens, especially children.

In 2,021 cases, children of both sexes were sexually abused, in 61 cases they were murdered after the sexual abuse, and in at least 1,833 cases they were kidnapped.

Likewise, the number of missing children is 330 and 29 cases of child marriages have been registered, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

Even a UNICEF page on child protection in Pakistan painted a grim picture, stating: “Children are exposed to many forms of violence (physical, psychological, sexual) and exploitation, including economic exploitation and child trafficking.”

“Nearly 30 years after Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it still does not have a public, coordinated child protection case management and referral system in place that meets international standards,” the report said.

According to UNICEF, around 3.3 million Pakistani children are trapped in forced labour, depriving them of their childhood, health and education and condemning them to a life of poverty and hardship.

UNICEF blames lack of awareness and gender-based societal norms related to frequent natural and man-made disasters as the cause of the horrific reality faced by children in the country.

People can expect the new government in Pakistan to make great efforts for the welfare of its citizens, especially children.