by Salman Ashraf
‘Cruel Numbers 2016’, a survey by an NGO, Sahil, conducted all over Pakistan shows that cases involving child sexual abuse that include abduction, missing children, and child marriages stood at a staggering 4,139 during 2016, an increase of 10% from the previous year. According to collected data, the number of abused children average at 11 per day.
Reported cases under major crime categories are 1,455 abductions, 502 rapes, 453 cases of sodomy, 271 cases of gang rape, 268 cases of gang sodomy, and 362 cases of attempted sexual abuse, and 100 cases of murder following sexual assault.
Cruel Numbers 2015 data reveals that of the total sexual abuse victims, 2,410 were girls and 1,729 boys. Of the abusers, 1,765 were identified as acquaintances, 798 as strangers, and 589 as acquaintances with strangers.
Like the previous year, the most vulnerable group among both boys and girls both remain those aged was 11 to 15 years, with the second most vulnerable group being those aged 6 to 10 years. The data shows that sexual abuse occurs mostly by or through acquaintances.
Statistics show that 34pc of the cases of sexual assault took place within enclosed areas whereas 16pc took place in open spaces. The data shows that 97pc of the children were abused once, and 3pc were abused more than once.
Furthermore, provincial-wise division shows that 2,676 of the cases were reported from Punjab, 987 from Sindh, 166 reported from Balochistan, 156 from the federal capital, 141 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4 from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Division by urban and rural localities shows that 76pc of the cases were reported from rural areas whereas 24pc of the cases were reported from urban areas, with 78pc registered with the police and 22pc unregistered, including 142 cases in which the police refused to register an FIR.
Abduction cases have shown an increase by 19pc from 1,386 cases in 2015 to 1,654 cases in 2016. On average, 5 children are being abducted every day.
Out of the total 199 cases of abduction and child sexual abuse, 83pc (165) of the victims were girls and 17pc (34) were boys.
Sahil Executive Director Dr Manizeh Bano maintains that the government should take this issue seriously and establish special cells in police stations for complainants of child abuse and special child-friendly courts.
