We fail our children

Every single day Pakistan fails its children. It also fails its women and its minorities and its poor and working classes. But collectively, regardless of every other stratification, Pakistan fails its children daily. It fails them when it doesn’t provide them the education and healthcare they deserve. It fails them when it messes up politics and economy for their future. It fails them when its society gets so radicalized that the future looks like a dark abyss. But most of all Pakistan fails its children when year after year the numbers show that its children continue to get sexually abused with no end in sight. Now once again the release of a madrassa teacher accused of the attempted rape of a 12-year-old minor boy in Tandlianwala, Faisalabad, has sparked a debate on the implementation of laws regarding sexual offences against children. The Tandlianwala police had booked and arrested a madrassa teacher for attempted rape. In a viral video, the Tandlianwala SP could be seen reprimanding the accused. However, due to the intervention of another known cleric, the father of the minor boy has apparently forgiven the teacher. Of course, this is neither the first nor the last such horrific crime against children. Just a few days later, another incident of child abuse came to the fore, as a man allegedly raped a 13-year-old boy while he was in Aitkaf in Muzaffargarh. The National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) has said that the alleged rapist has been arrested.

These two incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. In its report titled ‘Cruel Numbers 2023’, the NGO Sahil has revealed that a total of 4,213 children suffered abuse across Pakistan in the year 2023. According to Sahil, 11 children were abused per day on average during the year across the country. There are more harrowing details regarding child abuse cases. A gender divide analysis of the data shows that out of the total reported cases of child abuse, 2,251 (53 per cent) of victims were girls and 1962 (47 per cent) were boys. However, the reported age shows that children are most vulnerable to abuse in the age group of 6-15 years, in which more boys than girls were reported as victims. Moreover, children as young as 0-5 years were also sexually abused. The abuser’s category of ‘Cruel Numbers 2023’ indicates that acquaintances are still the most involved in child sexual abuse, along with relatives, family members, strangers, and women abettors. Among the total reported cases, 91 per cent were registered with the police. Sahil’s report has termed this as a positive sign indicating the active role of police in addressing the issue.

Victims of child abuse and their families must not be silenced in the name of religion or under any other pressure. In many cases, we have seen that those who come from powerful backgrounds can literally get away with sexual violence and even murder in some cases. Unfortunately, our criminal justice system also favours the privileged rather than the underprivileged. In the Tandlianwala case, many are asking what prompted the father to ‘forgive’ the teacher. It is now the job of the state to ensure that even if the father has forgiven the teacher, the state pursues the case so other children are kept safe. This is not a liberal versus rightwing issue; it is about the safety of our children whether in homes or madrassas or streets or schools. The government has to step up and send out a loud and clear message that it has zero tolerance for such crimes. From Kasur to Khairpur to Faisalabad to Muzaffargarh – our children are easy prey for predators. It is time our justice system came forward to protect this country’s children.