News Desk |
Senate’s special body on Monday was informed that as many as 500 cases of child abuse surfaced in Islamabad during the last five years. The Ministry of Human Rights in a meeting with a Parliamentary Committee informed that only 30% of the children are registered in Pakistan.
The low registration rate accounts for incomplete data on children in Pakistan hence makes it difficult the identification of the children in cases of death of any other unfortunate incident.
A meeting was held at Parliament House between Minister of Human Right Secretary Rabiya Javeri Agha and the Senate Special Committee on the Issue of Increasing Incidents of Child Abuse chaired by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq. The committee discussed factors that obstruct the child protection in Pakistan.
A shocking report by an NGO Sahil last year revealed that as many as 12 children in Pakistan were abused every day from January to June 2018.
“The laws are very clear but their implementation is a challenge. As per the directions of the committee, we have written letters to the provinces, asking them for data about incidents with children but we have not received a reply. The ministry is relying on private data and is serious about making a credible database,” said Senator Sadiq.
Deputy Inspector General Police Islamabad Faisal Ali said that during the last five years, 260 non-registered and 300 registered cases had come into the police’s knowledge. “Police stations have been directed to register cases of missing children without delay and special barracks have been made for children who are arrested for seeking alms,” he said.
Read more: Child abuse continues unabated in Pakistan
Deputy IG Police Islamabad further added that currently there is no system to exchange data between the Federal Investigative Agency and Police. Senator Sadiq asserted that the formulation of laws is essential to control the rise of child abuse cases but expressed her displeasure over the absence of Federal Human Rights Minister Dr. Shireen Mazari.
She complained the minister did not attend the recent two meetings with the committee on the issue of child protection. A shocking report by an NGO Sahil last year revealed that as many as 12 children in Pakistan were abused every day from January to June 2018. According to their data, majority child abuse cases were reported from Punjab.
Alarming was the fact that there was an increase in the number of cases involving children less than age 5. Although a number of child protection laws exist in Pakistan, the issue is the lack of implementation.