Child abuse cases on the rise: report

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) working against child sexual abuse in Pakistan, Sahil, has revealed that the cases of child abuse in Pakistan are increasing with every passing day. The organisation, in its report revealed that in Pakistan 3445 children were sexually abused in 2017.
The data reveals that 2077 girls and 1368 boys became victims of sexual exploitation. This data brings the numbers of abused children more than 9 per day. While addressing a press conference, Senior Regional Coordinator Sahil Ansar Sajjad Bhatti along with Iftikhar Mubarik, CEO Search For Justice, said this year reported cases of abduction were 1038, rape 467, sodomy 366, gang rape 158, gang sodomy 180 and 206 cases of attempt of child sex abuse were reported while 29 boys and 36 girls have been murdered after committing sexual abuse.
According to the report, eight boys and eight girls were murdered after gang sodomy and rape. As many as 517 children were found missing from their homes. There are 143 cases of early child marriages and 24 of Vani cases. The acquaintance with victim and their families are the highest in number in the list of perpetrators of CSA. The statistics show that out of total 3445 there are 1421 cases where the abusers had acquaintance with victims or their families. Some 508 cases were reported in which strangers were involved in abusing children.
Bhatti said there were 1324 cases in which the age of victim was not mentioned in newspapers. He said 448 children were abused at their own places, 410 at acquaintance's places, 30 children in haveli, 26 children in madrasa, 14 children at workplaces and 529 children in open places including fields, streets and jungle.
According to the data, 2168 cases of child abuse were registered in Punjab, 933 in Sindh, 139 in Balochistan, 78 in KP, 3 in Gilgit Baltistan, 12 in Azad Jamu and Kashmir and 112 cases were registered in federal capital. In the year of 2017, as many as 2505 incidents were reported to police. Some 44 cases were not reported to police and 99 cases were not registered at all whereas 797 cases were reported in newspapers with incomplete information. Some 112 incidents were reported in Lahore last year. In this city alone, 29 children have been abducted and 39 reported missing in 2017.