Daily Times

The British media, at times, appears to be more concerned with highlighting the prevalence of child sexual abuse here in Pakistan than our own governments of the day.

Back in 2014, the documentary Pakistan’s Hidden Shame aired on national television. In Britain. Not Pakistan. The film shines the spotlight on the sexual abuse of underage (homeless) boys in Peshawar; where nine out of 10 children are reportedly victims of paedophilia. Fast-forward to the present and The Guardian this week ran a piece focusing on Kasur, in the Punjab. Here, the attention is centred on the occurrence of child sexual abuse in the workplace.

Both are important contributions to lifting the lid on what has been described as one of the last Pakistani taboos. Though it is regrettable that neither was commissioned by local media; especially given that the documentary featured an interview with PTI Chairman Imran Khan whose party at the time held Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. That the latter fully admitted the problem as being one of the most “shameful aspects of our society” suggests that had the film been given an audience here in this country — less space would have been conceded to those voices who term this and other such exposés as western conspiracies aimed at embarrassing Pakistan.

At the heart of the first, is child homelessness; which may or may not have been compounded by the various military operations to flush out terrorists that were, in essence, conducted against the people of this country. Whereas when it comes to the second, the issue of child labour takes centre stage. Thus even if the questions of sexual abuse and exploitation are removed from the equation — Pakistan has let down its children. But when these are added to the mix what we need to talk about are crimes against the child and Pakistan’s international commitments in this regard.

This means no more explaining the ‘exceptionality’ of this country by linking gross sexual misconduct to poverty and lack of education. This is not to deny that these may represent contributing factors. But it is to caution against relying on these to exclusively explain predatory sexual behaviour towards children; which is, after all, a global phenomenon. Sadly. Moreover, viewing the issue of child sexual abuse solely through the aforementioned prisms is to abdicate the state of nigh on all responsibility towards this end. Meaning that the challenges of eradicating poverty and ensuring universal education in terms of functional literacy have not been met by a single government anywhere in the world.

But this does not mean that the Pakistani state can simply shrug its shoulders. It must do better. Starting now.  *

Published in Daily Times, June 20^th 2018.