Pay for your own evidence

Who will oversee the various agencies responsible for protecting children and ensuring their families receive justice? There is a definite requirement for an entity that will hold the responsible bodies accountable, every single one of them, for their failure to protect the children of Pakistan. An immediate national policy needs to be adopted, supplanting the various charters and commissions on child rights that Pakistan is a signatory to, much like the National Action Plan was hashed out to rip terrorists from their hideouts. This new policy critically needs to spell out certain practical matters, such as who pays for DNA testing to determine rape, the confusion over which leaves families and rape survivors and victims hapless.

One proposition is for the state or police department to bear this cost because of its failure to protect. A DNA test cost of Rs30,000 to Rs50,000 pales in comparison to the psychological damage caused by its shortcoming. In fact, several state institutions need to be taken to task, including the police, the National Assembly and other government departments and religious scholars. The police are weak for refusing to take child sexual abuse matters seriously and for turning families away. An FIR policy should be adopted where the FIR reporter’s statements are registered truthfully; a policeman’s role is not to pass judgment on cases and this is a major breach of justice. Along with this, officers require training on the definition of rape and child sexual abuse. Whether or not assault has really occurred, whenever child rights and safety are infringed upon, a case clearly exists. Those who keep child sex abuse cases away from the media limelight are somewhat culpable for obstructing the course of justice. In a country where millions of followers live and swear by their guidance, religious scholars need to speak up. Justice delayed is justice denied and with the delay will come a new breed of child abusers who were once victims themselves, continuing a never-ending loop.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2018.

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