The government has prepared a comprehensive draft law on the rights of children, which will be placed before the parliament in its next sitting. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, stated this while addressing a seminar on children rights jointly organised by Unicef, Ministry of Social Welfare and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs here on Thursday.
He said currently 39 different laws were in place in the country but none of them have so far been implemented.
He said child abuse is reality and the issue must be addressed with a rational approach. The minister said current laws on children rights were in scattered form and did not deal with all issues relating to children.
Niazi said the media revolution has impacted both adults and the ads and obscene programmes were spoiling morale.
In some religious schools, the child abuse is common and the clergy must accept the reality and seek remedies, minister said adding the issue of child abuse in the transport sector was never highlighted where the truck drivers were involved in sexual abuse of the children, while the same children when grown up become drivers of heavy transport and follow the practices of their predecessors.
Niazi said the changing social norms have also degraded the social values while the widening poor rich gap was also contributing to the social evils, child abuse one of them.
To substantiate his point of view he said the women of the high society due to their active social life can not give proper time to their kids and hand over to them to the servants who sexually abuse the innocent kids. He said this aspect also did not come to limelight so far and must be highlighted.
Parliamentarians from Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and representatives from ministry of interior, ministry of social welfare, Unicef also shared their views on the occasion.