Recurring nightmare

Every day brings yet another reminder of the horror that lies veiled beneath layers of hypocrisy, faux-morality and apathy. From rape to child abuse to open and unapologetic misogyny, Pakistan seems to be on a downward spiral when it comes to the protection of women, children and anyone from the vulnerable classes. There are not enough veils to hide the monsters that roam not just freely but without remorse or retribution. The 2018 Zainab rape and murder case had shaken the country – to an extent that it seemed there would be a national reset on how we view child sexual abuse. But here we are, writing about another Zainab from another town in another part of the country. The body of two-and-a-half-year-old Zainab has been found in Peshawar. The child was abducted from Charsadda and per police reports seems to have been assaulted and tortured before being killed. For now, all we know is that the police have arrested some suspects.

In its six-month report, ‘Cruel numbers’, Sahil the NGO says that more than eight children were subjected to sexual abuse on average every day in the first six months of 2020 in Pakistan, with most of the cases in Punjab. In Kasur alone, a major child abuse ring was revealed a few years back but little subsequent action was taken and we did not shake off our complacency. Serial killers like Javed Iqbal specifically targeted the most vulnerable children in the land and got away with that for years. It doesn’t help matters that every actor who has a role to play in curbing child abuse – be it the state, teachers or the media – puts their own narrow interests above that of protecting children. What we need is a societal consensus to better protect our children from predators. For that, we need to rethink every single part of how we view sex crimes like rape and CSA, and realise that the answers lie not in covering up abuse or trying to impose segregation or vague morality but that they can be found in a national conversation on just what exactly ails us as a people that we are facing such a massive problem of sexual assaults in the country. Our children need to be educated about sexual abuse and the hurdles that have been created to prevent the teaching of comprehensive sex education need to be rethought.

Acting against child abuse remains a low priority for law enforcers. The police are known to want to avoid registering more child abuse cases to keep the eyes of the media away. Our focus should also be on reforming our investigative and judicial systems. The police need to be trained in how to handle rape and child abuse cases in a sensitive manner. At trial, we need to ensure that all evidence is untainted and that the cases are dealt with in a speedy and fair manner. That, rather than indulging our bloodlust, is the only way to provide justice to victims of rape. Most of all, we need a shift in public attitude so that we don’t see more Zainabs fall prey to such depravity. Perhaps what we need is more outrage over rape and rape apologists than over kitschy commercials.