Child maltreatment is prevalent
in every society. Child maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical,
emotional and sexual abuse. Often children are neglected, and publicly exploited
which can result in actual or potential harms to the child’s health, survival,
development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, and
trust.
Physical abuse is one of the major issues in child maltreatment which results in
actual or potential physical harms from an interaction or lack of an interaction
which is reasonably within the control of parents or person in a position of
responsibility. Physical abuse represents any punishment in which physical force
is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort however light.
It mostly involves hitting, (snatching, slapping, spanking, etc.) the child with
the hand or with an implement. There are some other non physical forms of
punishment, which are degrading and detrimental to a child’s development such as
verbal punishments, threats, or ridicules directed to the child. Another form of
child maltreatment is sexual abuse which can cause emotional trauma. Sexual
abuse involves the mistreatment of children with the purpose of gratifying or
satisfying the needs of an adult. The child is not developed mentally enough to
give consent, which not only violates the Pakistani laws but also effects the
child’s mental well being. This can have permanent damage to the child’
development and cause trust issues.
The failure to provide a developmentally appropriate, supportive environment
including the availability of a primary care giver causes harm to the child’s
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The 2.27 % reported
increase in sexual abuse cases last year underscores how vulnerable children
currently are. The situation grows grimmer considering many of child abuse
incidents are not reported to police due to involvement of the victim’s
acquaintances, family pressures or shame. Furthermore, many incidents are
committed by a family member, which increases the chances that the incident will
not be reported. A scan of the country’s 65 national and regional newspapers,
reports that on average, three children aged below 17 are subjected to daily
sexual exploitation or abuse last year. Just like last year, girls are more
likely victims. In 2013, “of the child abused last year 72 percent were girls.
They were sexually abused for a longer period of time as compared with boys.”
Similar to previous years, most girls and boys were of the ages 7-14 age and
two-thirds of child abuse cases were committed by acquaintances including family
members, friends, neighbor’s, teachers, clerics, guards, employers, and
shopkeepers. Other cases were committed by strangers including policeman,
drivers, and landlords altogether. 2,403 children were abuse by 4,746. About 86
percent children were abused for one time, five percent for more than a day and
the rest for unidentified period of time. 79% of child abuse cases were reported
in Punjab, which is also the most populous province in the country. Sindh
follows with 10% of reported cases, KPK with 4% and Islamabad and Baluchistan
both report 3% of the child abuse cases.
Besides that what we can do to help these children, the most important property
of mankind, is the capacity to form and maintain relationships, these
relationships are absolutely necessary for any of us to survive, learn , work,
love and procreate. Parents and caregivers make all the difference in the lives
of maltreated children. Parents must develop an understanding and a comfortable
relationship with children. It is extremely important to educate young children
about sexual harassment and that it is ok to say “NO” to adults. Parents need to
explain to children what their private parts and that improper touching is not
allowed by anyone (no matter what the relationship) and it is absolutely
unacceptable. Parents must always keep the lines of communication open with
children and observe the behavior of people who are around their children.
Always ask for references and double check character of people before allowing
children to interact with them. For example, tutoring sessions with teacher and
religious instructors should always take place in open doors and in common
areas. Teach the child not to accept any drink or edibles from strangers and not
to consume edibles that may taste or smell odd. Parents should make the child
memorize all important numbers. Parents need to prepare and inform children of a
safety plan that gives generalized guidelines as to what steps they need to take
in an event of violence or sexual abuse. Children should be aware of safe place
they can go to in a dangerous circumstance, as a police station, friend’s house,
domestic violence shelter, fire station or public area.
Laws need to be created to prevent child abuse cases, and even more the current
laws need to be implemented more effectively. This will hopefully decrease the
number of child abuse cases and would overall improve the quality of life in
Pakistan as a whole.