Horrifying trend: Child sexual abuse on the rise

Report says over five children abused every day in Pakistan from 2007-11.


Rizwan Shehzad November 18, 2014

ISLAMABAD: Child sexual abuse is on the rise in Pakistan with 10,726 cases reported from all over the country between 2007 and 2011, according to a report launched on Tuesday.

The ‘Cruel Number Report’, compiled by Sahil, an NGO working on child rights, recorded more than 1,250 CSA cases in the twin cities during the last eight years.



In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, 311 cases have been reported from January to September 30 this year, with 214 girls and 97 boys being victims.

Last year, 377 cases were reported in Rawalpindi and 136 in the capital. In 2012, 344 cases were reported in the garrison city and 91 in Islamabad.

The report, compiled from monitoring 86 national and local newspapers, was launched at a press conference at the National Press Club.

Data shows that on average, five to six children have been assaulted every day from 2007-2011, said Habiba Salman, a Sahil programme officer. A further breakdown revealed that 71 per cent girls (7,570) and 29 per cent boys (3,156) were the victims of CSA during this period, she added.

Sahil Programme Officer (Media) Atta Mohyuddin Syed said 45 per cent of the total reported cases were of abduction.

He further said that a total 4,201 cases were recorded
in the category of rape, sodomy, gang rape and gang sodomy.

Another 1,028 cases of molestation and attempt of rape/sodomy were reported during 2007-2011.



“More serious crime is committed when the victim is murdered. A total of 573 victims were murdered after sexual assault,” he said.

Of the recorded 23,884 abusers, 16,219 (68 per cent) were acquaintances of
the victims, while 4,311 (18 per cent) were strangers, he said.

Sahil Senior Legal Aid Consultant Safeer Hussain Shah said the report shows that the 11-15 age group was the most vulnerable.

Some 65 per cent cases were reported from rural areas and 35 per cent from urban settings. The provincial data shows that 7,384 cases of abuse were reported from Punjab, followed by 2,339 from Sindh, 281 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 177 from Balochistan, 41 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and three cases from Gilgit-Baltistan, said Imtiaz Sumra of Sahil.

Of the all cases, 80 per cent were registered with police, five per cent went unregistered and the status of 15 percent cases remains unknown.



Habiba Salman said reporting of such cases has significantly increased in recent years, adding that the low and high ratio in different areas only depicted reporting and not the real numbers in the areas.

Sahil also provides free legal aid and counseling to victims of child sexual abuse.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

Raja Awais | 9 years ago | Reply

We have 180 million population. What should we now cry in tears for this? Where are law enforcement. Its normal statistics for a third world country, criminals exists in every society and gov should deal with them.

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