ISLAMABAD – Non-government organization (NGO) Sahil in its recent report has revealed that more than nine children abused daily in 2017 across Pakistan.
In its annual report on child sexual abuse titled ‘Cruel Numbers 2017’, Sahil found an alarming total of 3,445 child abuse cases were reported across the country in 2017. Among the major crime categories of the reported cases, abduction was the most common with 1,039 cases.
The report quoting newspaper articles stated that in 2017 alone, 517 children went missing, 467 were raped, there were 366 cases of sodomy, 206 attempts of rape, 180 of gang sodomy, 158 cases of gang rape and 109 cases of child marriages.
Of the total cases reported, statistics showed that 2,077 were girls that are 60 percent of the total reported cases while 1,368 boys were reported abused (40 percent). It further found that of the total reported cases, 29% were reported in closed places and 15% in open places while 1,790 cases did not mention the place of abuse.
The report is compiled on the basis of child abuse cases reported in 91 newspapers from all four provinces, including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Increase in cases of murder after sexual abuse:
Sharing the findings of Cruel Numbers 2017 report, Senior Programme Officer Media Sahil Mumtaz Gohar said this year 109 cases were reported of murder after sexual abuse.
“It shows that 9 percent cases have increased as compared to 100 cases reported in 2016. A gender analysis shows that 58 percent girls and 42 percent boys have been murdered after sexual abuse in 2017.”
Further, the cases of murder after the abduction and sexual abuse also increased as compared to last year.
Abduction and rape-murder cases increased from seven cases in 2016 to 15 cases in 2017.
More children between 11-15 years abused:
The data showed among the reported cases, 640 children were in the age bracket 6-10 years and 961 children were between the age brackets of 11-15 years.
The highest number of cases reported in Punjab:
The provincial divide statistics showed that 63 percent of the cases were reported from Punjab, 27 percent from Sindh, four percent from Balochistan, three percent from Islamabad and two percent from KP while 12 cases were reported from AJK and three cases from GB.
Programme Officer at Sahil Sohail Ahmed said, “The reason why Punjab has the highest number of cases reported can be because it has a higher population as compared to other provinces and the media coverage, as well as access to media or police, is higher over there.”
Ahmed also added that the number of cases of abuse is much higher than what is reported. “Most people don’t report cases of abuse because there’s pressure from society and families believe that the matter should stay between them and kept hush-hush so people don’t find out.”
“In addition to that, sometimes media doesn’t cover social issues as they keep focusing on political matters,” he added.
Of the total reported cases, 76 percent were from rural areas and 24 percent from urban areas. Among them, 72 percent cases were registered with the police. Whereas in 99 cases the police refused to register the case, 44 cases were unregistered with the police and the registration status of 797 cases were not mentioned in newspapers, the report stated.
81% of abduction cases were girls:
Among 1,229 cases of reported cases of abduction in 2017, 81 percent victims were girls and 19 percent were boys.
Child marriage:
Total 143 cases of child marriages were been reported in 2017 with 89 percent girls and 11 percent boys.
Majority of the cases were reported from Sindh (63 percent) followed by Punjab (32 percent). Five cases were from KP and two cases were reported from AJK.
Of the child marriages, 83% cases were reported from rural areas and 17% from urban areas.
Abusers:
5,284 individuals suspected of being involved in child sexual abuse were identified over the year. The set includes numbers on gangs involved in all 3,445 cases barring 143 instances of child marriage.
The report further highlights that 43% of abusers were acquaintances.
Acquaintance with a stranger was the second highest on the list of perpetrators with 18% of cases reported against them.
The data showed that of the total cases reported, 15% involved strangers sexually assaulting children.
The report further noted that this year there was a decline of 36% in cases reported of assault by strangers. “This is a significant change which may be attributed to a greater level of awareness of the community given to the children to be aware of stranger’s interaction,” the report said.
Executive Director Sahil Manizeh Bano said that in previous years the cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children have been reported from Kasur, Swat and Jaranwala. “Hundreds of cases have been reported but only few victim families came forward for seeking justice. The abusers kidnap children, use drugs, made videos, sexually abuse and even murdered them,” she said. Bano added that commercial sexual exploitation of children and trafficking is now a million dollar business globally.
