Every year more than a million children are physically mistreated and abused
KARACHI: The purpose of writing this letter is to draw your attention towards a tragic matter ruining our society. Every year more than a million children are physically mistreated and abused, according to reports. Over 110,000 of these children are sexually abused. The consequences on physical and mental health are rarely taken into account.
In Pakistan, over 20,000 children are reported for being abused physically. Calling out the indifference of the government to child rights, a recent report on child sexual abuse revealed 2,322 cases countrywide between January and June of 2018, as compared to 1,764 incidents in the same period of 2017.
It is believed that there are still many more cases unreported and undisclosed. But on the other side, many of such cases are reported to the police yet many don’t have the courage to report abuse.
There are numerous stories where abused children went on to commit crimes, became serial abusers, drug addicts and criminals, embarking on a never-ending cycle of destructive behaviour due to their own harsh childhood experiences. Child abuse is ruining the future of this nation. It is about time the government adopted tough legal measures to prosecute child sexual abuse cases so that we are able to protect our future generations.
Komal Pervaiz Akhter
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2019.
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