2,227 kids suffered sexual abuse in first half of 2023

A total of 2,227 children were subjected to sexual abuse in Pakistan in the first half of the ongoing year, according to a report issued on Thursday.

The report, published by Sahil – a non-profit organisation working for the children’s protection – disclosed that on an average, 12 kids in the country suffered sexual violence every day from January to June of the year 2023.

It revealed that 1,207 girls and 1,020 boys were subjected to sexual abuse during this period.

Sahil collects its data from media reports but the number of cases of children being molested in the country might be much higher than those mentioned in its document.

Last year, Sahil had reported a total of 4,253 cases of child abuse – 2,123 of them of sexual in nature.

Ansar Sajjad Bhatti, the provincial coordinator of Sahil, while explaining the report said during the first six months of the current year, four incidents of child marriage were reported, while a case of abduction of a minor girl came to light.

He pointed out that 22 boys and girls were subjected to sexual violence in madrassas.

Similarly, he added that children were subjected to sexual abuse in hospitals, hotels, cars, clinics, colleges, factories, prisons, police stations, wedding halls, cemeteries and many other places.

The Sahil official said during the six months, the highest number of cases of sexual violence against children stood at 1,648, which were reported in Punjab; followed by 314 in Sindh; 161 in Islamabad; 24 in Balochistan; and four each in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

He continued that of the total incidents of child sexual abuse that took place between January and June 2023, 1,969 of them were reported at police stations. However, eight of them were not reported.

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A total of 17 incidents were not reported by the police, while 233 of them were not mentioned in various newspapers with complete details.

According to the report, 96 children were subjected to sexual abuse in Lahore during the first six months of the year 2023.

During this period, 53 incidents of child pornography took place.

The Sahil report pointed out that from January to June 2023, 963 incidents took place in which children's lives were placed in danger, 760 of them died, 265 drowned, 148 were murdered and 144 killed in accidents.

Sahil has suggested that a child safety cell should be set up in every district of Punjab to prevent these incidents and provide them with free support.

An awareness campaign to protect children from sexual violence should be conducted under an effective strategy.

Laws should be made to protect children and further improvements should be carried out within the existing ones.

It added that the implementation of the enacted laws should be ensured.

Sahil suggested that effective support systems should be established for the rehabilitation of children affected by sexual violence.

It added that child safety messages should be incorporated in schools’ curriculums.