‘6,780 Pakistani children victimised in 2008’
January 17, 2009
Karachi
As many as 6,780 children were victimized in Pakistan in 2008, including 4,251 boys and 2,529 girls, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) President Zia Awan said on Friday.
He was addressing a press briefing at the Madadgaar Helpline Office, a sister concern of the LHRLA. Awan said that 516 cases of child victimization were reported in Karachi alone. Among major cities of Pakistan, Multan was topped the list with 1,041 cases; Gujranwala had 820 cases; 749 cases were reported in Lahore; 701 in Sialkot; 699 in Rawalpindi; 598 in Faisalabad; 574 in Peshawar; 478 in Larkana; 415 in Hyderabad; and 189 cases were reported in Sukkur.
“This is the tip of the iceberg; the cases of child victimization must be many more,” Awan said. “The situation can be gauged from the fact that as many as 532 children committed suicide in Pakistan in 2008. Child abuse is not only physical, it is also psychological. If the fundamental rights of a child, including his right to education is not observed, it is child abuse.”
Awan said that it was most unfortunate that the government had closed down schools in Swat after the deadline given by Islamic militants to do so. He also said about the Child Protection Bill, which has been pending in the Assembly for the last nine years. He stressed the need for bilateral and multilateral agreements to control and prevent cross-border child trafficking.
Madadgaar alone received and provided services to 16,978 cases of violence in 2008. Out of the total, 2,045 cases were related to boys, and 5,401 cases involved girls, Awan said.
The acts that fall in the ambit of child sexual abuse, according to Dr Aisha Mehnaz, professor of pediatrics at Down University of Health Sciences (DUHS) include adults making comments of a sexual nature to a child; kissing or touching a child with sexual undertones; fondling a child’s breast or genitals or asking a child to fondle the abuser’s genitals; exposing one’s sexual parts to a child; masturbation as abusers or even observers; exposing or using a child in porn films; voyeurism or getting sexual pleasure from watching children naked; rubbing genitals against a child’s body; oral sex or using one’s own or the child’s mouth for sexual pleasure; intercourse or anal or vaginal penetration by any object; and commercial sexual exploitation; or using a child for prostitution and pornography for money.
Awan said that children comprise 45 per cent of the population and were the future of the nation. They should, therefore, not be neglected and treated as secondary populace. He added that 56 children were brutally murdered in Karachi in 2008, 50 girls underwent sexual violence, 37 boys were sodomized, 123 were inflicted physical torture, 96 children became victims of ‘karo-kari’ or so called honour killing, 29 children were tortured at police stations, 10 children committed suicide, 75 children became victims of human trafficking, 32 were kidnapped, 28 were forcibly married, five became victims of ‘vani sawara’ and as many as 71 children went missing.
The provincial break-up showed 98 child abuse cases in Balochistan, 498 in the NWFP, 3,772 in Punjab and 2,412 in Sindh during 2008. Awan further said that in many reported child abuse cases, the perpetrators were known to the victims as blood relatives, acquaintances, neighbours, or family friends. “In some cases it was noted that the offender was an ‘Amil’ (a peer-faqir) or spiritual healer while in some cases the culprit was a dacoit, shopkeeper, pimp or trafficker,” he said.
As many as 6,780 children were victimized in Pakistan in 2008, including 4,251 boys and 2,529 girls, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) President Zia Awan said on Friday.
He was addressing a press briefing at the Madadgaar Helpline Office, a sister concern of the LHRLA. Awan said that 516 cases of child victimization were reported in Karachi alone. Among major cities of Pakistan, Multan was topped the list with 1,041 cases; Gujranwala had 820 cases; 749 cases were reported in Lahore; 701 in Sialkot; 699 in Rawalpindi; 598 in Faisalabad; 574 in Peshawar; 478 in Larkana; 415 in Hyderabad; and 189 cases were reported in Sukkur.
“This is the tip of the iceberg; the cases of child victimization must be many more,” Awan said. “The situation can be gauged from the fact that as many as 532 children committed suicide in Pakistan in 2008. Child abuse is not only physical, it is also psychological. If the fundamental rights of a child, including his right to education is not observed, it is child abuse.”
Awan said that it was most unfortunate that the government had closed down schools in Swat after the deadline given by Islamic militants to do so. He also said about the Child Protection Bill, which has been pending in the Assembly for the last nine years. He stressed the need for bilateral and multilateral agreements to control and prevent cross-border child trafficking.
Madadgaar alone received and provided services to 16,978 cases of violence in 2008. Out of the total, 2,045 cases were related to boys, and 5,401 cases involved girls, Awan said.
The acts that fall in the ambit of child sexual abuse, according to Dr Aisha Mehnaz, professor of pediatrics at Down University of Health Sciences (DUHS) include adults making comments of a sexual nature to a child; kissing or touching a child with sexual undertones; fondling a child’s breast or genitals or asking a child to fondle the abuser’s genitals; exposing one’s sexual parts to a child; masturbation as abusers or even observers; exposing or using a child in porn films; voyeurism or getting sexual pleasure from watching children naked; rubbing genitals against a child’s body; oral sex or using one’s own or the child’s mouth for sexual pleasure; intercourse or anal or vaginal penetration by any object; and commercial sexual exploitation; or using a child for prostitution and pornography for money.
Awan said that children comprise 45 per cent of the population and were the future of the nation. They should, therefore, not be neglected and treated as secondary populace. He added that 56 children were brutally murdered in Karachi in 2008, 50 girls underwent sexual violence, 37 boys were sodomized, 123 were inflicted physical torture, 96 children became victims of ‘karo-kari’ or so called honour killing, 29 children were tortured at police stations, 10 children committed suicide, 75 children became victims of human trafficking, 32 were kidnapped, 28 were forcibly married, five became victims of ‘vani sawara’ and as many as 71 children went missing.
The provincial break-up showed 98 child abuse cases in Balochistan, 498 in the NWFP, 3,772 in Punjab and 2,412 in Sindh during 2008. Awan further said that in many reported child abuse cases, the perpetrators were known to the victims as blood relatives, acquaintances, neighbours, or family friends. “In some cases it was noted that the offender was an ‘Amil’ (a peer-faqir) or spiritual healer while in some cases the culprit was a dacoit, shopkeeper, pimp or trafficker,” he said.
