Sir: I have to confess I have had to struggle a little bit with myself to write this letter. For someone who has devoted a career to studying the consequences of trauma on health in general and mental health specifically, this should have been a run of the mill article for me to describe in elaborate detail the consequences of child abuse — not only for the child but for the well-being of society. However, there was an innate fear, that just like everything else that has been reported so far in the wake of Zainab’s brutal rape and murder, this would become yet another wall of text. One more expression of outrage that will fall on deaf ears and nothing will change, just like after Kasur’s child pornography scandal, or when the world cried for our children after watching ‘Pakistan’s Hidden Shame’ documentary about the sexual abuse of our youth. But we as a nation remained obtuse to any sort of reform. Consequently, I am left grappling with the reality that Pakistan is too stubborn to change. So much has already been written covering every aspect of the heinous crime, be it in a political context or a purely sympathetic context that I would rather limit my role today to just presenting to the public, a brief overview of why crimes like the murder of Zainab happen, why these can’t be stopped and why the system will require unprecedented reforms to prevent this from happening in the future. While everyone has been talking about recent sexual abuse cases, which certainly are the highest imaginable crimes against a child, there is no one explicitly talking about the basic definition of child abuse, which according to WHO, ‘includes all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity’. There were reports a few days ago about how nine year old madrassah student, Hussain, was beaten to death by a cleric. Must we wait for reports like these before we act? The harsh reality is that child abuse and neglect is an ominously pervasive problem in our society and most of the times it’s the parents who are to be blamed. While the rapist and murderer of Zainab is awaiting his fate behind bars, how many families in Pakistan can say with authority that they have not willingly subjected their children to any of the above mentioned forms of abuse? Child abuse is a heinous crime which is increasing on a daily basis. Keeping historical facts in mind, Kasur alone has witnessed 12 cases of child abuse in the last 12 months. The ratio of this crime has increased by around two to three percent in the previous year in Pakistan. Setting aside all emotions, feelings and sentiments, we have to find the root causes of these acts. There is a need to discuss practical steps that can help in the eradication of child abuse from our society. Here are some causes for this phenomenon. Firstly, there is pornography. It has destroyed the lives of many young individuals. Pornographic content is very common over the internet. If you are looking for some stuff to complete your college assignment, it is not uncommon to see pornographic content appear in the form of ads or window pop-ups. The government should ban this sort of stuff in every possible way. Then there is the influence of Bollywood. The vulgar scenes portrayed in these movies are enough to corrupt young minds. Everyone idealizes the lifestyle of film heroes and tries to be like them. These movies may include content that could lead to the moral decay of our society, for instance, extra marital relationships. Then there is the biggest cause for the increasing violence in our society, no rule of law! In this era, the law is dead. Nobody has fear of law enforcement agencies in this country as everyone is corrupt. People do not report cases because they believe that the police will bring more troubles for their family. The culprits are bailed and released due to insufficient evidence and poor investigation by police. There should be exemplary punishment for culprits. The state must take immediate actions to restore the confidence of people, especially in our law enforcement agencies. NEELAM WASEEM Karachi Published in Daily Times, March 4th 2018.