Over 12 children abused daily between Jan-June 2022

September 12, 2022

Staff Report

LAHORE

Statistics reveal that during the first six months of 2022, at least 2,211 children were sexually abused – approximately 12 children each day.  At least 1,207 girls and 1,004 boys were reported to be victims of sexual abuse. This was revealed in Sahil’s six-monthly report Cruel Numbers. Sahil is the only organization working to collect statistics on child sexual abuse.

The numbers are a stark comparison to last year’s Jan-June data which showed 1,896 cases, pointing to a 17 per cent rise.

The cases collected are mainly from those that have appeared in the media, including newspapers, and digital media. These cases are divided into categories including abduction, rape sodomy, gang rape, gang sodomy, murder, etc.

The numbers continue to be grim with no fall in sexual abuse. Around 803 cases of abduction took place, with, 243 of rape, 298 of sodomy, 41 of gang rape, 87 of gang sodomy, while 17 boys and 13 girls were murdered after becoming victims of sexual abuse. There were also other incidents where two boys and one girl were murdered after gang sodomy and rape.

At least 212 children were found missing from their homes.

In other types of child sexual exploitation, 17 cases of early child marriage and 3 of Vani cases were recorded.

As data reveals each other, most of the perpetrators were well acquaintances with the victim and the victim’s family. Out of all the 2211 cases, in at least 1050 cases the abusers were acquaintances. In 409 cases reported strangers were involved in abusing children.

In 131 cases, the victims’ ages were less than five years. There were 401 cases of the victim being between six to 10 years old. Around 715 cases were reported where the victims were between 11 to 15 years and 254 cases where the victims were 16 to 18 years. As the statistics were collected from the media, in 710 cases, the age remained undetermined as it was not mentioned in the newspapers.

The statistics show that the younger the child, the more the susceptibility of abuse. It is probable that this is so because the younger the child, the easier the access for the abuser.

Around 451 children were abused at an acquaintance’s place, 356 children in open places such as fields, streets or woods, 279 were reported to be abused in their own houses., One child was abused in a haveli, 21 children in madrassahs, and the same number 21 children at workplaces.

Province wise data

Punjab led with the most number of child abuse cases (1564), followed by Sindh (338), Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (77), Balochistan (23), AJK (10), while in Islamabad, 199 cases of abuse were reported.

From January to June 2022 there were 1,961 incidents reported to the police, 12 cases were not reported to the police while 14 cases the police did not register. Two hundred and twenty-four (224) cases were reported in the newspapers with incomplete information.

In Lahore only, 80 incidents were reported from January to June 2022. Sixteen (16) children were abducted, seven reported missing, 14 were raped, 13 were sodomized, and one was murdered after rape.

Pornography

From the data of the last few years, it has been observed that abusers often film (pictures or videos) the crime to blackmail and threaten the victims, either to continue engaging the victims in the activity or to silence the victim.
However, the percentage of cases of pornography seems to have decreased by 12 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2021. In Jan-Jun 2021, 67 cases of pornography were reported.

Cases of murder after CSA seem to have decreased from 48 (Jan-Jun 2021) to 35 (Jan-Jun 2022). Same is the case with incest, which has been reported less as compared to last year’s data. This year there were 17 cases reported (Jan-Jun 2022) while 24 cases were reported last year (Jan-Jun 2021).