Law demanded to check child abuse in provinces

By Our Correspondent
October 15, 2019

LAHORE:Special legislation for children “Zainab Alert” is really a positive act for the children of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) but similar development needed for provinces also on immediate basis, said a child rights NGO in an orientation meeting held here Monday.

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The NGO is extremely concerned over the recent dreadful cases of child abuse and murders happened in Punjab especially in Kasur. Such incidents not only create terror among the masses but also show the weakness of the law and order.

This was stated by Muhammad Waqas Abid of an NGO. He said that in the wake of the horrific Kasur child sexual abuse scandal in 2016 in village Husain Khan Wala-Kasur and after that Zainab incident in the same district, it appeared that people would never forget the issue and strong comprehensive child protection system would be put in place by the government, but unfortunately like other human rights issues, the topic could not sustain any significant place in news highlights and thus the contemplation for its eradication remained a farce.

He quoted that a report clearly showed that during 2018, more boys than girls were abused in the age bracket of 6-10 and 11 to 15 years, eventually more boys than girls in this age group were assaulted. The same report stated that around 32 girls were raped and murdered, whereas 31 boys were assaulted and murdered during 2018.

The NGO members welcomed the recent legislative development by the federal government regarding the Zainab Alert Bill to curb the menace of child abuse and exploitation and demanded the Punjab government also introduce the same legislation for early detection and management for missing children.

Nida Aslam, another activist, demanded the government focus more on the prevention of child abuse through introducing life skills based education, in the mainstream school curriculum of every education system, ranging from private schools to seminaries and orphanages. The NGO demanded for establishing specific police units at district level, linking them with hospitals for medico-legal facilities for CSA related cases. It demanded the government take tangible steps for the implementation of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, and its replication in all provinces immediately. Police reforms, training and sensitisation are crucial at this stage.

The civil society of Pakistan offered its expertise and resources to engage with police to build up their capacity in child rights related issues and laws. The rules for the implementation of Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act -2004 are still to be devised while the SOPs to run the shelters and child protection centres are also pending for long time. There is dire need of proper implementation of Juvenile Justice System Act – 2018. There should be law to end the cruelty and torture against children in educational setup, including seminaries. Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act - 2013 yet to be notified for implementation and this is actually the violation of the Article 25-A.

They demanded the government take concrete steps to eradicate the infant mortality rate by strengthening primary healthcare system and routine immunisation programme and ensure the sufficient food for children in Punjab by introducing the nutrition programmes at school level.

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