October 1st, 2021
Staff Report
LAHORE
In the first six months of 2021, more than 10 children were subjected to sexual abuse on average every day in Pakistan indicating a rise in such cases. In the last year’s report for the same time period, it was reported that more than 8 children were abused sexually per day.
This was revealed in a report titled Six Months Cruel Numbers Report complied and issued by an NGO Sahil, which has been working since 1996 on child protection, especially against child sexual abuse.
The report stated that During the first six months of 2021, a total of 1896 cases of child abuse were reported in the country. Out of 1896 cases, 53% (1013) of victims were girls while 47% (883) were boys.
“From January-June 2021, a total of 1084 cases of child sexual abuse, 523 cases of only Abduction, 238 cases of Missing Children, and 51 cases of Child Marriages were reported”, the report said.
The report is based on the data collected from 81 newspapers of all four provinces including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
Out of the total reported cases, 58% were from rural areas and 42% cases were reported from urban areas.
“This year in the first six months a total of 554 boys were become victimized by crimes of Sodomy/ Gang Sodomy/ Attempt of Sodomy/ murder/ pornography and abduction. A total of 531 girls were victimized by crimes of Rape/ Gang Rape/ Attempt of Rape/ murder/ pornography and abduction. A total of 67 cases of pornography, and 24 cases of Incest were reported”, the report stated.
The data reveals that children from the age group 6-15 are most vulnerable to abuse. 640 children from the age bracket of 11-15 years and 409 children from the age brackets of 6-10 were abused in the first six months of the current year.
The report also revealed that in 1045 cases of child sexual abuse, the people involved in the heinous act were acquaintances of the victims. While 430 people were strangers and in 49 cases relatives were involved. In 47 cases, females abetted the crime and in 38 cases religious/ school teachers were accused of sexual abuse.
“Statistics from the provincial divide explain that 60% of the total cases are reported from Punjab, 26% from Sindh, 6% from the ICT, 5% from KPK, and 2% from Balochistan. Only 5 cases are reported from AJK and one case from GB”, the report said.
According to the report, 82% of the total cases were registered with the police. A total of 32 cases were not registered with the police and in 24 cases police refused to register the case. Whereas registration statuses of 288 cases were not mentioned in the newspapers.
