4,139 children were abused in 2016. 52 percent of the victims were girls and 42 percent were boys. 100 of the victims were murdered after being subjected to sexual assault.
Ever since the ghastly rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari in Kasur, sexual assault on children has occupied Pakistani headlines. It seems like every day there is a new report on a similar crime. Just a few days ago, on the 28th of January 2018, the FIA arrested a man for sharing child pornography with an international child porn distribution ring. In another incident, a man was arrested for sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in Taxila.
Social media activity related to these reports seems to indicate that Pakistanis are reacting to the ugly truth about the sexual abuse of children in this country with shock and disbelief. However, most of the country still does not know about the colossal scale of child sexual abuse in this country. According to Sahil, an NGO which has been working on child protection in Pakistan since 1996, there have been 19,508 cases of child sexual abuse reported in this country between 2011 and 2016. Furthermore, the number of reported cases has risen by a few hundred each year. This latter observation can only have one of two meanings: either that more children are being abused each year or that people are slowly learning that they can’t keep quiet about sexual abuse because of cultural taboos.
According to Sahil’s yearly ‘Cruel Numbers’ report, there were 2,303 reported cases of child sexual abuse in 2011. 505 of these cases entailed rape or sodomy and 279 involved gang rape or sodomy. 72 percent of the victims were girls and 28 percent were boys. The largest group of abusers were acquaintances, the second largest were strangers and the third largest were the children’s own family members. Girls aged from 6 to 18 years were the most vulnerable to abuse, whereas boys from the 6- to 15-year-old age group were the most vulnerable. One can’t help but wonder if the only reason girls stop being listed after the age of 18 is because these reports are centred on the sexual abuse of children. The grim reality is probably that women simply remain vulnerable to sexual abuse well into adulthood. 79 percent of cases were reported in Punjab, 10 percent in Sindh, 4 percent in KPK, 6 percent from Balochistan and Islamabad and only 1 percent from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
4,139 children were abused in 2016. 955 of these cases entailed rape or sodomy and 217 cases involved gang rape or sodomy. 52 percent of the victims were girls and 42 percent were boys. Sahil also reported that 100 of the victims were murdered after being subjected to sexual assault. There were also 176 child marriages reported in the same year.
These horrifying statistics reveal the plight of children in this country. The Pakistani state has failed to protect our children from predators, just like it has failed other vulnerable segments of our society: particularly religious minorities and women. In all likelihood, generation after generation has been brutalized by sexual abuse in this country.
The implications for the psychology of our adult population – the rulers as well as the ruled – are horrifying. It may even be the case that child sexual abuse has a monstrously large role in shaping the very psyche of our people.
Ever since the ghastly rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Ansari in Kasur, sexual assault on children has occupied Pakistani headlines. It seems like every day there is a new report on a similar crime. Just a few days ago, on the 28th of January 2018, the FIA arrested a man for sharing child pornography with an international child porn distribution ring. In another incident, a man was arrested for sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in Taxila.
Social media activity related to these reports seems to indicate that Pakistanis are reacting to the ugly truth about the sexual abuse of children in this country with shock and disbelief. However, most of the country still does not know about the colossal scale of child sexual abuse in this country. According to Sahil, an NGO which has been working on child protection in Pakistan since 1996, there have been 19,508 cases of child sexual abuse reported in this country between 2011 and 2016. Furthermore, the number of reported cases has risen by a few hundred each year. This latter observation can only have one of two meanings: either that more children are being abused each year or that people are slowly learning that they can’t keep quiet about sexual abuse because of cultural taboos.
According to Sahil’s yearly ‘Cruel Numbers’ report, there were 2,303 reported cases of child sexual abuse in 2011. 505 of these cases entailed rape or sodomy and 279 involved gang rape or sodomy. 72 percent of the victims were girls and 28 percent were boys. The largest group of abusers were acquaintances, the second largest were strangers and the third largest were the children’s own family members. Girls aged from 6 to 18 years were the most vulnerable to abuse, whereas boys from the 6- to 15-year-old age group were the most vulnerable. One can’t help but wonder if the only reason girls stop being listed after the age of 18 is because these reports are centred on the sexual abuse of children. The grim reality is probably that women simply remain vulnerable to sexual abuse well into adulthood. 79 percent of cases were reported in Punjab, 10 percent in Sindh, 4 percent in KPK, 6 percent from Balochistan and Islamabad and only 1 percent from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
4,139 children were abused in 2016. 955 of these cases entailed rape or sodomy and 217 cases involved gang rape or sodomy. 52 percent of the victims were girls and 42 percent were boys. Sahil also reported that 100 of the victims were murdered after being subjected to sexual assault. There were also 176 child marriages reported in the same year.
These horrifying statistics reveal the plight of children in this country. The Pakistani state has failed to protect our children from predators, just like it has failed other vulnerable segments of our society: particularly religious minorities and women. In all likelihood, generation after generation has been brutalized by sexual abuse in this country.
The implications for the psychology of our adult population – the rulers as well as the ruled – are horrifying. It may even be the case that child sexual abuse has a monstrously large role in shaping the very psyche of our people.