We stand with the extremely brave Pakistani women who have spoken out against the sexual abuse they faced as children. And in doing so, Nadia Jamil, Frieha Altaf and Maheen Khan have broken one of the most enduring taboos of this society. That they are in the public eye means that they have successfully used their privilege for the greater good; much like the #MeToo campaign spearheaded by white Hollywood. And while we hope that more women will find the courage to raise their voices against such crimes — it isn’t enough. To be clear, this isn’t meant as an insult to these three torchbearers. Far from it. But simply put, we must share a collective responsibility when it comes to the right to protect. Which should not be misconstrued as policing the bodies of the Pakistan girl child. Rather, we call on an enforced ban on child labour; especially when this involves young girls going into private households to help out with domestic work. For children of this age should be in school. And once there, they should be taught the basics of sex education. Regardless of what the clerics and Islamist groups might say. For it is absolutely imperative that we at least teach our children what acceptable behaviour is and what it isn’t. Especially considering that in the first half of last year — according to the non-profit Sahil child protection group — more than 1, 750 cases of child sexual abuse were reported across the country; with 65 percent having taken place in the Punjab. And then we must turn our attention to existing marriage laws that appear to only look good on paper. Meaning that despite the legal age of marital consent being put at 16 and (and 18, in the case of Sindh), the reality remains somewhat different. For while a man who marries an underage girl may well face jail time on charges of statutory rape — the marriage itself is not rendered null and void as long as the girl has reached puberty. And we also have to be prepared to take on the religious right, including the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which contends that limiting the age of (marital) consent to anything other than puberty is un-Islamic. Thus again do we highlight the need for gendered interpretations of both the country’s constitution as well as the Holy Quran. And finally, we, the media, are duty bound to push for action on all these fronts. Including reminding those in power about implementing laws which stipulate that the state is beholden to pay the legal costs of child sexual abuse victims. We must also continue our role in calling out incidents of sexual violence against women and children. But we need to go further and engage in introspection while self-correcting as an industry where necessary. This means creating a secure environment that leaves women employees free to go about their work without fear of harassment or worse. And in case of the latter — it falls to us to guarantee that adequate mechanisms are set up to deal with this. In addition, every step of the way, must we remind male colleagues of what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to speaking to and interacting with women in the workplace. And last but by no means least, we must forever recall the message of our three torchbearers: no shame is to be placed on women. The only shame is keeping silent. * Published in Daily Times, January 18th 2018.