Child abuse in Pakistan increases by 10 percent: report

SUKKUR: Working against child sexual abuse in Pakistan, Sahil NGO recently revealed that the child sexual abuse cases in Pakistan were increasing day by day. It was also revealed that 4,139 children were the victims of sexual abuse by the end of 2016 in Pakistan. While addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Khairpur, Sahil NGO Sukkur’s Senior Regional Coordinator Barkat Ali Ansari and Legal Aid Officer Irshad Ali Ghanghro said that as compared to 2015, the child sexual abuse cases in Pakistan had increased by ten percent. They informed the media that it was found through systematic research (including regional, national newspapers) that 4,139 children were sexually abused and assaulted in Pakistan in 2016. “This figure shows that approximately 11 children were abused every day in 2016,” they added.

They said that it was seemingly an alarming situation for Pakistan. They said that 1,729 boys and 2,410 girls became the target of sexual assault. While revealing further statistics, they added that to commit this heinous crime around 492 boys and 1,162 girls were kidnapped by the accused; around 453 boys and 502 girls were raped; and around 268 boys and 271 girls were the victims of gang rape. They further disclosed that 28 boys and 25 girls had been killed by the accused after rape; 12 boys and 9 girls were killed by the accused after gang rape; and 10 boys and 7 girls were kidnapped and later killed by accused.

They informed the media that mostly the abusers were from neighbours, police, teachers and religious teachers. They said that children between the age groups of 6-10 and 11-15 were the victims of sexual abuse and assault. They said that such cases were mostly reported in Punjab (2,627) and followed by Sindh (987). They said that around 156 cases of sexual abuse were reported in Islamabad, 141 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 166 in Balochistan and 9 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

They said that 70 percent cases of child sexual assault were reported from rural areas, adding that the accused used safe places for committing these heinous crimes, including mosques, bus stands, hostels, police quarters, tuition centres, residential houses and other related places. The Sahil NGO representatives said that 3,216 cases were registed by the police, 32 cases were unregistered, while 749 cases were unreported. They said that such cases were reported in Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana and Karachi.