Contending with paedophilia
Merely punishing handful of culprits involved in Kasur scandal or other abuse cases will not be enough
The writer is author of the book Development, Poverty and Power in Pakistan, available from Routledge
During these past few days, the disturbing problem of child sexual abuse has been brought to the fore of public attention through the media expose of atrocious instances of paedophilia, initially in Kasur, which has in turn led to other cases being identified in Rahim Yar Khan, Chiniot and Jhang.
The particulars of these incidents vary. They range from a 14-year-old furniture shop worker in Rahim Yar Khan being kidnapped and raped, and then being driven to suicide after being taunted by the police which refused to help him, according to the boy’s father. In Chiniot and Jhang, young boys were abused and videos of this abuse recorded. The scale of what happened in Kasur, however, is most horrific. Around 280 children are estimated to have been abused by a ring of paedophiles in Hussain Khan Wala village in Kasur, who recorded this abuse, and used it to blackmail the families of their victims else they would upload the video footage online or sell it in the form of CDs. The fact that videos of this child abuse were not only being sold online, but also circulated in the form of CDs indicates that there is an active market for paedophile materials within our country.
Not only was the Kasur paedophile ring able to operate with impunity over the past several years, the manner in which this incident was initially handled also offered little consolation. After the families of some of the victims finally came forward to file a police report, a local MPA apparently used his influence over the police to secure the release of one of the culprits. Even after the Kasur scandal came into the media limelight, a high-level inquiry committee formed by the Punjab government stated that child abuse allegations were instigated by a local land dispute. Under the glare of public attention, however, another joint investigation team involving different arms of the state has been formed. The chief minister of Punjab and the prime minter have since issued statements that exemplary punishment will be given to the culprits found guilty of sexually abusing children. Other political parties have also jumped into the fray. The PTI has resolved to take up the Kasur incident in the provincial and national assemblies.
The problem of sexual abuse of children is, however, not confined to Kasur or the other above-mentioned districts in Punjab alone. Paedophilia is far more prevalent in our society. Last year, Britain’s Channel 4 aired the documentary “Pakistan’s hidden shame” highlighting the rampant paedophilia in Peshawar. According to a compilation of newspaper reports by Sahil, an NGO working on the issue of child sexual abuse, over 3,500 cases of sexual abuse of children under the age of 18 were reported across Pakistan in 2014 alone. These are only cases which were reported in the newspapers.
The number of children vulnerable to sexual abuse is too many to recount, including runaway street children, those working as domestic servants or elsewhere in the informal sector. The Kasur scandal has at least drawn attention to a very serious problem, denying or ignoring which does not make it go away, but in fact works to the advantage of paedophiles.
Merely punishing a handful of culprits involved in the Kasur scandal or the other recently reported child sexual abuse cases will not be enough. Policymakers must pay heed to the advice of child rights advocates who are calling for much broader measures such as inclusion of child pornography provisions within our penal code and having a separate procedure for registering child sexual abuse cases. There is a need to fully implement the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000, give priority to creation of local child protection centres, and to ensure passage of the Domestic Workers Bill. Another relevant measure needed to create a more enabling environment for safeguarding children from sexual abuse is inclusion of self-protection materials in school curriculum.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2015.
The particulars of these incidents vary. They range from a 14-year-old furniture shop worker in Rahim Yar Khan being kidnapped and raped, and then being driven to suicide after being taunted by the police which refused to help him, according to the boy’s father. In Chiniot and Jhang, young boys were abused and videos of this abuse recorded. The scale of what happened in Kasur, however, is most horrific. Around 280 children are estimated to have been abused by a ring of paedophiles in Hussain Khan Wala village in Kasur, who recorded this abuse, and used it to blackmail the families of their victims else they would upload the video footage online or sell it in the form of CDs. The fact that videos of this child abuse were not only being sold online, but also circulated in the form of CDs indicates that there is an active market for paedophile materials within our country.
Not only was the Kasur paedophile ring able to operate with impunity over the past several years, the manner in which this incident was initially handled also offered little consolation. After the families of some of the victims finally came forward to file a police report, a local MPA apparently used his influence over the police to secure the release of one of the culprits. Even after the Kasur scandal came into the media limelight, a high-level inquiry committee formed by the Punjab government stated that child abuse allegations were instigated by a local land dispute. Under the glare of public attention, however, another joint investigation team involving different arms of the state has been formed. The chief minister of Punjab and the prime minter have since issued statements that exemplary punishment will be given to the culprits found guilty of sexually abusing children. Other political parties have also jumped into the fray. The PTI has resolved to take up the Kasur incident in the provincial and national assemblies.
The problem of sexual abuse of children is, however, not confined to Kasur or the other above-mentioned districts in Punjab alone. Paedophilia is far more prevalent in our society. Last year, Britain’s Channel 4 aired the documentary “Pakistan’s hidden shame” highlighting the rampant paedophilia in Peshawar. According to a compilation of newspaper reports by Sahil, an NGO working on the issue of child sexual abuse, over 3,500 cases of sexual abuse of children under the age of 18 were reported across Pakistan in 2014 alone. These are only cases which were reported in the newspapers.
The number of children vulnerable to sexual abuse is too many to recount, including runaway street children, those working as domestic servants or elsewhere in the informal sector. The Kasur scandal has at least drawn attention to a very serious problem, denying or ignoring which does not make it go away, but in fact works to the advantage of paedophiles.
Merely punishing a handful of culprits involved in the Kasur scandal or the other recently reported child sexual abuse cases will not be enough. Policymakers must pay heed to the advice of child rights advocates who are calling for much broader measures such as inclusion of child pornography provisions within our penal code and having a separate procedure for registering child sexual abuse cases. There is a need to fully implement the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000, give priority to creation of local child protection centres, and to ensure passage of the Domestic Workers Bill. Another relevant measure needed to create a more enabling environment for safeguarding children from sexual abuse is inclusion of self-protection materials in school curriculum.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2015.