Firefighting versus child protection systems

The fact that we know of only 4,213 cases of child abuse in 2023 is an insult to common sense and arithmetic. About 26 million children are not attending schools; 3.3 million are involved in child labour; 1.2 million are engaged in begging on streets; and one in every four households employs children as domestic workers. These are brutally harsh statistics that define the extent of child abuse, neglect and cruelty in our society. The situation is further exacerbated by lukewarm, ambiguous and contradictory laws that could absolve the rich of any crime, in return for a compensation agreement with the victim's family.

For how long will we keep handling every reported child abuse case, as if it happened for the first time in Pakistan? Why are we averse to creating systems that work by themselves, without intervention by powerful people, media or celebrities? When will we understand that the Child Protection and Fire Fighting are the names of two different departments? Why even 30 years of ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), no nationally coordinated child protection, case management and referral system has been established in Pakistan?

It is in this background that a group of committed volunteer citizens, working on the issue of child protection for the past many years, came together to define, document and propose an integrated child protection system. It encompasses all processes, actions, responsibilities, training, case management, records and audits essential to execute a holistic child protection system that can be implemented in all regions and provinces of Pakistan.

The proposed system is a set of laws, policies and processes that proactively work together to prevent, respond, protect and safeguard children against abuse (physical, psychological, sexual), neglect and exploitation, including child labour and trafficking. It is based on four key pillars: a) Documenting a set of processes, policies, plans and rules; b) Implementing the documented child protection system; c) Monitoring and auditing; and d) Periodically reviewing to evaluate system effectiveness and taking steps for continual improvement.

The proposed child protection system introduces numerous new concepts that have already been successfully adopted in developed countries. It defines 'duty to report' as critical element of a child protection system. Currently, the police, hospitals, schools, families, professionals and citizens of Pakistan have no obligation to report an incident of child abuse. Pakistan could have a sea-change impact on child protection by declaring 'duty to report' for child abuse cases as a mandatory requirement for all citizens.

The role of Child Helplines has been redefined from merely receiving phone calls, noting in a register and doing nothing to implementing a completely new computerised, accountable and traceable case management system. The role of police is enhanced to include mandatory response on detecting a situation of child abuse and where appropriate, recording FIR, without the need of an external individual or institution demanding to do so. The coordination between police, child protection officers and magistrates has been described at length, along with describing the type and extent of training required for each functionary.

The proposed Child Protection System also includes an internal audit process based on international auditing standard ISO 1901 - a process entirely missing in almost all government department. Any child protection system, however extensive and inclusive, would not be complete or effective without including mechanisms and resources for internal audit, management review and continual improvement. The proposed system includes not just all these aspects but also defines Key Performance Indicators for ongoing performance measurement and improvement.

The rape and murder of Zainab, Maham, Fatima and hundreds of other unknown innocents that never surfaced on any media are not mere tragedies. They are systemic cases of barbarity. They represent our aversion to documented, traceable, digital and accountable systems. We could take a quantum leap in safeguarding our children by adopting and implementing a rational, humane and holistic child protection system.