‘Four children abused in Pakistan daily’
** 47pc children abused by family members
- NGO says govt least interested in protection of children’s rights
By Akhtar Amin *
PESHAWAR: Child abuse is on the rise and around four children are sexually abused everyday in Pakistan according to a report compiled by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).
Speaking at the launching ceremony of SPARC’s annual report titled ‘The State of Pakistan’s Children-2006’ at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, SPARC regional manager Jahanzeb Khan said, “Indeed we have failed in protecting our children, and the government is least interested in the implementation of child rights related laws.”
The SPARC report stated that 47 percent children are abused by their family members, including fathers, stepfathers, uncles and elder siblings at their homes, 49 percent of sexual assaults are committed by people either known to the children or their family, including teachers, coaches, physicians, clerics and neighbours, four percent children are sexually assaulted by strangers and 25 percent of child abusers are other children. “Around 75 percent children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation belong to the middle-class,” said the SPARC report, adding that Pakistan had the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in South Asia, with an estimated 10 million children working to earn a livelihood.
According to the report, 2006 witnessed a sudden increase in suicides among children, with 180 children committing suicide that year. “The total number of cases reported in 2006 are 2,447, including 1,794 (73 percent) females and 653 (27 percent) males. Out of 4,953 abusers, most (81 percent) were acquaintances of the victims. Around 6.463 million children do not go to school and the number of street children is growing with almost 25,000 on the streets in Karachi alone,” said the report.
Giving an overview of the report, Jahanzeb said statistics showed that Pakistan lagged behind in achieving its Millennium Development Goals, Education For All targets and other international commitments. Citing the report, he said one child died every minute from EPI disease, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection, adding that infant mortality in Pakistan was the highest among SAARC countries. “The infant mortality rate at present stands at 70 deaths per 1,000 live births, while children born with low birth weight exceed 19 percent,” he said. The report said that almost 38 percent children under the age of five were victims of malnutrition and 13 percent are severely underweight. It also said that the complete eradication of polio remained a challenge due to rumours spread by clerics against immunisation. “During 2006, polio, malnutrition, measles, malaria, HIV and AIDS, withering breastfeeding, waterborne diseases and hepatitis remained major challenges in the context of children’s health. The health budget allocated for the year 2004-05 was Rs 38 billion, Rs 40 billion for 2005-06 and Rs 52 billion for 2006-07,” said the report.
It said that education was the most neglected sector in Pakistan, and cited figures collected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) stating that almost 50 million adults in Pakistan were illiterate, while the dropout rate at primary schools was the highest in the world at 50 percent. “Around 25 million children are not enrolled in schools, approximately 10 million are child labourers, 20 percent attend private English medium schools and almost three quarters of the remaining child population study in public schools,” it said. The SPARC report also said there were many occupations, where children’s visibility was high but that there were some jobs where children were invisible, such as domestic labour, bonded child labour, agriculture, etc. The last child labour survey was conducted by the government in 1996, when 3.3 million out of 40 million children (5-14 years age group) were found to be child labourers.
According to the ‘State of Pakistan’s Children-2006’ report, six years have passed since the promulgation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance-2000, but the children who come in contact with the law find themselves handcuffed and subjected to cruel treatment, and are physically and sexually abused and traumatised.
“They serve in prisons for petty crimes, without access to legal aid, exclusive courts, and the probation officer who is responsible for the child when he/she is brought to the police station. A major violation of laws is the detention of child offenders as the first line of punishment, although according to the JJSO, it is the last resort,” the report said.
By December 2006, the report said, only 231 (10 percent) of juvenile offenders were convicted, while 2,038 (90 percent) were awaiting trial and since Pakistan has a low conviction rate ranging from 15 to 20 percent, over 80 percent of the juveniles under trial are innocent.
The report also pointed out the absence of a reliable birth registration mechanism in Pakistan. “Section 82 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) sets the age of criminal responsibility at seven years,” the SPARC report said, and demanded that it should be raised to at least 12 years.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\05\story_5-7-2007_pg7_25
Who should be held answerable for findings like this? When is any positive work going to be done in this country of ours?