LAHORE: During the first half of 2023, a distressing total of 2,227 children in Pakistan fell victim to sexual abuse. The Sahil NGO, which actively combats Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in the country, compiled the “Cruel Number” report. The report brings attention to the concerning issue. A total of 1,207 girls and 1,020 boys were tragically subjected to sexual exploitation. It means nearly 12 children enduring sexual abuse each day.
Ansar Sajjad Bhatti, the Provincial Coordinator of Sahil, and Atif Khan Advocate, a High Court legal representative and Regional Legal Aid Coordinator, shared these alarming statistics during a press conference in Lahore.
The report categorized cases into several major groups: abductions (984 cases), rape (215 cases), sodomy (294 cases), gang rape (35 cases) and gang sodomy (75 cases). Tragically, 16 boys and 11 girls were reported to have been murdered following sexual abuse.
Even more disturbingly, there are instances where children were murdered after gang sodomy and rape. Additionally, 201 children were reported missing from their homes. There were 14 cases of early child marriage and 1 case of Vani (a harmful traditional practice).
The majority of perpetrators involved in CSA were found to be acquainted with the victim’s family. The data indicated that 912 cases involved abusers with a connection to the victims while 498 cases involved strangers.
The age distribution of CSA victims is: 123 victims were aged 0-5 years, 376 were aged 6-10, 674 were aged 11-15 years, and 287 were aged 16-18 years. Furthermore, 767 cases did not specify the age of the victims.
Locations and Provincial Breakdown
Victimization occurred in various locations: 253 children were abused in their own residences, 348 at the abuser’s locations, 17 in religious schools (madrasas), 22 in communal settings (havli), 6 at workplaces, and 780 children were abused in open spaces such as fields, streets, and forests.
Breaking down the data by provinces, the numbers were as follows: Punjab reported 1,648 cases, Sindh reported 314, Balochistan reported 24, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) reported 74, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) reported 4, and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) reported 161.
Throughout January to June 2023, a total of 1,969 incidents were reported to the police. Nearly 8 cases were not reported, 17 cases went unregistered, and 223 cases were reported in newspapers with incomplete information.
Additionally, during the same period, there were 53 cases of child pornography reported. The report mentioned that 963 incidents of accidents or violence against children occurred, resulting in the deaths of 760 children. The causes of these deaths included drownings, murders, accidents, and suicides.
