Child protection

It is encouraging to know that the K-P government is working to revive child protection units in view of the rise in such cases. The provincial assembly was informed recently that the social welfare department registered 303 cases in the past five years. The district-wise break-up is: 49 cases of child sexual abuse in Abbottabad; Mardan 48 cases; Charsadda 46 cases; Swabi 43 cases; Bannu 27 cases; Swat 23; Lower Dir 14; Buner 12; Chitral 11 cases; Kohat and Battagram nine cases each; and the provincial capital of Peshawar 12 cases. Of the 303 cases uncovered or registered by the social welfare department, 296 cases involved boys and 97 girls. Not a single case of abuse was registered against the transgender people. The detection of cases shows an increasing number of victims are breaking their silence and naming and shaming the abusers.

The provincial minister for social welfare informed the assembly that the rules for the child protection units had been amended, and after the amended rules were okayed by the provincial cabinet, the government planned to make recruitment for the 96 posts to make these units operational. He said last year the finance department had approved these posts, but the recruitment process ran into problems with the rules. Now that the rules had been amended the recruitment process would start soon. A law on child protection was enacted in 2010. Under the law, child protection units were to be set up across the province. Unicef had established four units in 2011, and NGOs had set up another eight units. The 12 units functioned till 2019 and registered around 3,900 cases. In March last year, Unicef handed over its four units to the government.

The opposition justifiably criticised the delay in reactivating the child protection units and asked the government to involve opposition members with expertise in law for child protection. It’s essential to nip every evil in the bud.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2020.

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