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Children are the assets of our society and how we raise them up will play a vital role in shaping up the future of our country. It’s our shared responsibility to raise healthy children and in this respect, I believe we are failing miserably as a nation. We all know someone who has been a victim of child abuse.
If we look at the statistics, a total of 3,768 cases of child sexual abuse in Pakistan were reported in 2015, bringing the number of abused children to 10 per day, this means that there was a 7% increase from the previous year, which is alarming. The worst part is that children after physical or sexual abuse, are killed. Since 2015, the number of child sexual abuse has risen. At least 11 children became victims of sexual abuse in Pakistan every day while 100 were murdered after sexual assault in 2016. This means that there was a 10% increase in CSA cases since 2015.
Girls aren’t the only victims of sexual abuse, it seems that these animals are targeting small boys as well. Studies show that, out of the sexual abuse victims, 41% were boys. We all think that this kind of activity could only take place in rural areas. Yes, the majority (76%) cases were reported from rural areas but 24% cases were reported from urban areas of Pakistan. Furthermore, the time period of these sexual abuse shows that in 13% of the cases, children were abused for more than once.
The 10% increase in these cases is alarming. Our nation is already going through a lot due to the political situation in our country since the past two decades. Our nation is facing multiple problems and this is one of those problems in our society that we don’t discuss with anyone, we stay silent about such matters, considering them taboo and immoral. This is surely not the solution. The majority (2,676) of these cases were reported from Punjab in 2016, which were followed by 987 cases reported from Sindh, 166 from Balochistan, 156 cases from the capital, 141 from KPK, 9 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4 from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Let alone the cases which weren’t registered. We will never be able to find the actual number of these cases. We live in a patriarchal society, we’re talking about such issues are considered immoral and bold. We’ve labeled them as ‘sensitive’ issues, and we keep such issues to ourselves. Do we need to question ourselves about why do we do this? Why do we not discuss these issues with our children when they inquire about such issues.
We need to educate people about these subjects through campaigns. We can’t sit quietly and watch these horrendous activity happen right underneath our noses. We need to protect our children. We need to show people that it is okay to raise your voices against such indecent acts. We will not let people abuse our children and make our children suffer for the rest of their lives. Not raising our voices about these issues is immoral.
Our society needs to change, our thinking needs to change, we better get up and do something about such inhuman acts before we lose our kids. It’s about time that we take a stand for our kids and the future of this nation.
