2. Child Abuse in Pakistan and ways to tackle it

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    Child sexual abuse has become one of the leading issues in Pakistan. According to Multiple reports by reputed organizations, 11 children fall victim to the scourge of sexual abuse on daily basis. Appallingly, various statistics corroborate a  10% increase in the incidence of child abuse on yearly basis in Pakistan. Of total ratio of perpetrators, 6% are family members, who commit this heinous crime.Since 2013, over 17,000 cases have been registered in various police stations  pertaining to Child sexual abuse. These numbers manifest the intensity and rifeness  of the evil practice in the society.


The menace has been overlooked for so many years. However, the recent series of child abuse incidents in Kasur (district of Punjab) triggered a national debate on the issue. One of the painful and heartbreaking incident took place on January 4, 2018, when a six-year old girl, Zainab Ansari, was brutally raped and murdered. Her body was found on a pile of garbage. The cold-blooded murder sent shock-waves across the country.  People demanded immediate arrest and public hanging of the perpetrator. The police, which is notorious for its collusion with local Chieftains in such cases, was compelled by the mounting public pressure to locate and arrest the culprit at the earliest. More than a thousand DNA samples were sent to the nearby Laboratory to find the identity of the culprit.  And to everyone's surprise, the monster came out to be a man from the same area, named Imran Ali. It was found during the investigation process that the man was involved in at least 9 cases of rape-cum-murders of minors. An Anti-terrorism Court awarded him death sentence and he was hanged on October 16, 2018 in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore.
The are few questions that need to be answered before we move on to the suggestion part.

Why a minor is an easy prey?

 As a matter of fact, Children are innocent. They have a very limited view of the world. They believe in things which are visible to them and the things that their parents talk to them about. In here, sex and sex-related things are considered very sensitive and private. Especially, parents avoid talking about bad things including sex-related ones in front of their children. Parents must bear in mind that their children cannot escape child-abusers trap unless they are equipped to do so. As has already been said, minors have no idea about sex, abuse, child molesters and sensitive touches, so it is not difficult to ascertain why they become an easy victim to sexual abuse.
   

Why the issue remained unimportant?

Pakistani society is a primitive one in many ways. People still are very emotional and give importance to prejudices and stereotypes that were established long ago. Being a victim of sexual abuse makes you a stigmatized creature here. It's a social humiliation after all. To avoid such an insult, people prefer silence to revelation. So many incidents go unreported and do not make it to the offices of media outlets. On the whole, the issue remained lost somewhere in the hearts and minds of victims.

 Why child abuse is rampant in Pakistan? 

There are multiple reason behind that

  • During 1970s, there was a hot debate going on about whether the state should permit establishment of public-sex places (aka Chaklas) in the country to confine sex to certain areas or not. Religious clerics vehemently opposed the idea of state-sanctioned sex. On the other hand,  the secular section endorsed the idea on the ground that it is the only way to put an end to illegal sex in our streets, houses/homes, schools, colleges, parks, gardens, sugarcane crops, fancy restaurants, cars hence in every nook and corner of the country. The clergy emerged triumphant and the Chaklas were banned. Eventually, now when people feel sexually aroused, they strive to satiate their lust through various means. One way is to find the easiest prey, who is a minor in majority of the cases. So confining sex to certain areas wasn't actually a bad idea in the light of experiences of the developed world.  I understand that such an idea goes against our core religious values,  but eventually it can be conceived to reduce the incidence of child abuse. 
  • Another reason is an easy access to pornographic material. Despite PEMRA's efforts to block porn websites, Pakistan remained one of the top country whose citizens earnestly watch porn movies and that too on regular basis. People watch porn movies and try to imitate the sexual stuff. In the quest, they search for a vulnerable prey. What a porn movie does is that it upends your sexual urge to an objectionable level.
  • Children lack sex-related education and techniques to neutralize attacks by child-molesters. 
  • Pakistan have been missing effective laws and efficient investigation process pertaining to sexual abuse until recently. Perpetrators unleashed their immoral drive without any fear of being brought to justice.  
  • Victim's attitude of silence only helped child molesters. 

How can we put an end to this practice? 

 A two-pronged strategy is needed to deal with this scourge: Prevention and Post-Abuse Scenario

Prevention

It should be the priority of state, parents and society as a whole to prevent such incidents from happening. Following methods may help:

  • We have to put in place a mechanism to educate every child about some fundamentals of sexual abuse and defensive techniques that can be employed to escape molester's trap. Of course, we can make those instructions part of our syllabus or make parents bound to impart the set of guidelines to their children.
  • It is incumbent upon parents to keep an eye on activities of their children. 
  • Children must be encouraged to share everything with their parents.  
  • Comprehensive laws and enforcement mechanisms regarding child abuse must be enacted to deter people from committing this crime. Stern punishments generally do the trick
  • Children can also be educated through animated movies, dramas, TV shows and other media means. 
  • A general agreement in the society that those who commit this sin will be isolated and will be never be allowed to integrate in the society again.

Post-Crime scenario

When child abuse has already been committed , what should be the standard Modus Operandi in such a scenario?

  • There should be a change in our attitude towards victims. Victims must be encouraged to reveal the identity of perpetrators without any fear of being stigmatized or ashamed. People should extend their full support to victims and help catch culprits
  • When Perpetrator is identified, law enforcement agencies must arrest him immediately. No leniency should be shown whatsoever. Punishment should be awarded according to existing laws. 
  • Public naming-and-shaming of perpetrators is a must to make them feel embarrassed for what they have done.
  • The bottom line should be to declare such people worst creatures and they be treated as such.
                                                                          End 

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