After being passed by the Senate’s Human Rights Committee, the ‘National Commission on the Rights of Child Bill 2017’ will be tabled today (Thursday). The Juvenile Justice System Bill is currently before the cabinet; once approved, the bill will either be tabled in National Assembly or Senate for approval.
The parliament has already made legislation to prevent violence and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. In addition, two private members’ bills—one aimed at taking care of orphaned and abandoned children and the other on domestic help—have already been passed unanimously by the Senate.
However, the private bill on orphaned and abandoned children, passed by the Senate, was not passed by the National Assembly within 90 days of its laying, as it has been referred for taking up at the joint sitting of the parliament
“The children constitute more than half of the population; by not implementing the national legislation and obligations under the international covenants, signed and ratified by Pakistan, the state has failed the country’s children,” said PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, addressing a symposium organised by the Wafaqi Mohtasib in Islamabad on the issues being faced by the children, and strategy to address them.
Senator Babar said that in both houses of the parliament, review of existing legislation and adoption of new legislation may be necessary. What is critical, he said, is the implementation of existing legislation and the international commitments made by Pakistan to take measures to address the plight of children.
“The parliament is very much responsible to promulgate laws, but it was also not correct to say that the parliament had done nothing,” he said, calling for the implementation of the 2012 Universal Periodic Review as well as those of the UN on the periodic reports submitted to it by Pakistan.
He said that the personnel of law enforcing agencies should be sensitised through special courses to children’s rights and dignity, along with a special channel of the state dedicated to children’s programmes and their issues.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said that legislators will do all in their capacity to give protection to children. “Child abuse, child molestation, and violent murder of children are on the rise in Pakistan and continue unchecked, especially in Punjab. At present, the children are not safe at all. Every day we read about heinous crimes against children in newspapers, like seven-year-old girl raped. There is a dire need to legislate strictest laws to punish the monsters who commit such deplorable acts.”
According to various reports published in newspapers about the violence against them during the first three weeks of this year, there were 26 cases of violence against children during this period, which meant more than one incident daily. Out of 26 victims, 19 were girls and nine boys (all between ages 5 to 15); thus, showing the extreme vulnerability of female children. Most of the incidents were reported from Punjab.
Furthermore, 13 out of the 26 children were raped and five were found dead in the homes of their employers. It was not known in how many cases FIRs had been registered and pursued. According to Amnesty International, 35 per cent of children in domestic employment in Pakistan are subjected to violence.
Those who participated in the deliberations included MNA Aasia Nasir, Senator Rubina Khalid, MNA Naeema Kishwar, Wafaqi Mohtasib Salman Farooqui along with representatives of civil society organisations.
