Rampant prevalence of child abuse in Pakistan has become a major cause of concern as reports show that at least 2,960 cases of child abuse have been registered in the country last year.
According to a news piece published in Islam Khabar, out of 2,960 cases of child abuse, as many as 1,510 girls and 1,450 boys were sexually exploited in Pakistan in 2020.
Citing a non-governmental organisation Sahil's annual report titled "Cruel Numbers" on October 12, the Islam Khabar reported that as many as eight children were abused every day in Pakistan in one form or the other.
These include instances of abductions, sodomy, gang sodomy, rape, gang rape, and cases of those children who were murdered after being sexually assaulted. It is to be noted that in around 50 per cent of the reported cases, the abuser was known to the victim.
Pakistan's Punjab province recorded the highest number with 1,707 cases, followed by Sindh (861), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (215), Islamabad (102), and Balochistan (53). There has been a four per cent increase in cases of child abuse from 2,846 cases in 2019.
Citing Dawn newspaper, Islam Khabar reported that on 13 September 2021, a child abuse gang had been busted in Sahiwal and suspects were arrested on grounds of having raped minors aged between 12 and 14 years, for a period of three years.
In 2014, a documentary titled "Pakistan's Hidden Shame" shocked the world for itsbrutal narration of the gravity of child abuse, through the lens of Peshawar, Islam Khabar reported.
The documentary estimates that nine out of ten children are victims of this sort of pedophilia in Peshawar and one in ten victims is usually killed by the perpetrator, out of fear and shame.
Pakistan requires a complete overhaul of its laws and policing methods to combat child abuse, Islam Khabar reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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