Curbing child pornography

A paedophilia scandal rocked the nation in August 2015, in which hundreds of child pornographic videos circulated online from a village in Punjab. Following that incident, Pakistan decided to criminalise child pornography and child trafficking with a 7-year sentence and a fine of Rs0.7 million through an amendment in the Criminal Law Bill. This however has not deterred criminals as such incidents have constantly been occurring since then. The latest of this was in September 2021 when police arrested at least 4 persons in connection with an active pedophile ring operating in Punjab, which shows an entire culture is prevalent at the underbelly and the situation is much more alarming than we care to believe.

In light of this, the Islamabad High Court has ordered the federal government to enhance the degree of punishment from 7 years to 20 years with a fine of no less than Rs1 million. The court has also urged the government to issue guidelines to ensure the dignity of victims during legal proceedings and introduce measures in line with international standards such as allowing recorded testimonies or video conferencing so that the victim is not in direct contact with the accused. While this is a much needed initiative, it is important to understand that punishments on paper are a weak form of deterrence due to lack of implementation. Instead, there needs to be a nationwide crackdown in order to dismantle pornographic and trafficking rings. For this, cybercrime agencies must work with law enforcement personnel to investigate the matter before using brute force in catching the perpetrators. This will indeed take up a lot of resources and manpower.

It is no surprise that victims especially child victims are treated horribly during legal proceedings. This has been witnessed in many cases such as in the Arzoo case. The government must collaborate with civil society organisations to devise a cohesive framework for the protection of victims and sensitise officials to uphold the victim’s dignity