Seven children were raped today, but nobody cares

Over 2,000 children were sexually abused last year, but our politicians are too selfish to fight for them.

Ali Syed April 08, 2011
According to a report in The Express Tribune, an NGO called Sahil claimed that 2,252 children were sexually abused in Pakistan in the year 2010.

This shockingly large figure shows that children are falling prey to the hunger of sick and twisted people.

However, 2,252 sexually abused children is not a large enough figure for anyone to take action to stop these acts from taking place.

And why would it?

Clearly the goverment has more important things to spend its resources on like putting the future of the youth in jeopardy by abolishing the HEC, fighting with doctors and ending up causing the deaths of many, and of course, reopening cases of prime ministers who died decades ago.

What is even sadder though, is that the figure of 2,252 is undoubtedly an underestimation of the actual number of cases that actually take place annually.

The article said that Sahil used reports from various newspapers to come up with the figure, which means that it was wholly dependent on the cases that reporters happened to come across or made an effort to cover.

It is safe to say that the actual number of children who get raped every day is probably a lot more than seven per day, as is stated in the report.

Now, what has been done so far in either trying to bring the culprits to justice or making sure that children are kept safe from these animals?

A few months ago there was a news report that stated that the government in Dubai executed an Arab man for raping and killing a Pakistani child, a year after the crime was carried out.

One year may seem like a long time, but compared to ‘never,’ I’d take it any day.

I agree that numerous cases of child abuse take place in other countries as well, and I am not a big fan of Arab countries myself (democracy, yeah!) but I salute them for delivering this exemplary sentence.

Like Sahil, there are several NGOs working on the issue. However, the state of children in Pakistan with respect to sexual abuse does not seem to be improving at all.

I remember watching an awareness campaign on certain television channels last year, but other than the fact that they were short-lived, their message seemed to go out to only that segment of the population who had the luxury of television or who could afford to provide security to their children.

There has been a significant increase in the number of cases that have started being reported, which is somewhat a positive step on the part of the media, but this does not constitute even a fraction of the problem.

But, as in all other aspects of society, at least we are moving on from the stage of denial and belief that there is nothing wrong with this country.

Having said the above, more than seven children were raped today and the same number will get raped tomorrow and the day after. I am not doing anything to fix this. Are you?
WRITTEN BY:
Ali Syed
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (20)

Sahar Khan | 12 years ago | Reply At least you wrote an article and you are not staring at what is happening around and murmuring to the one sitting next to you. No, at least that didn't happen; for sure much more is needed to curb the situation. its a gruesome reality of our country, we are caught in the web of immoralities and with every passing day the issues are multiplying. It is one such matter that needs a serious attention and solution. A well-written article!
Fortune Cookie | 12 years ago | Reply The time has arrived to stop the BLOGGS. The power is with the PEOPLE. Start protesting peacefully.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ