Pakistan needs to get serious about tackling child rape. For official data paints an extremely dismal picture. In Lahore alone, 141 such cases have been reported from January until the first week of this month. With not a single conviction taking place. Let that sink in for a moment. And then consider that this is just one city in one province. Police figures suggest an almost equal gender divide: 77 girls raped and 79 boys. Though when combined this exceeds the official tally of 141: raising the possibility of this being a conservative estimate. Shockingly, all suspects were released on bail. Last week alone saw a six-year-old girl raped and murdered in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). It also brought with it the news that the man accused of raping and murdering six-year-old Zainab Amin back in January is now being charged with doing the same to two more little girls. All of which means that child safety must feature among the urgent priorities of Imran Khan’s government. As a first step, the PTI supremo should publish corresponding data for all other provincial capitals; covering the same time period. The point here is not one of political point-scoring but of outlining the means of establishing a tentative national figure on child rape. And with FATA coming under the remit of the KP government, steps need to be taken to collect similar data in the tribal areas. Secondly, the incoming set-up will have to follow up on Punjab’s efforts, undertaken in the immediate aftermath of the Zainab case, to raise awareness of sexual abuse in both schools and madrassas. The objective being to build on these and implement appropriate measures nationwide. Linked to this must be an overview of police procedures on child rape. With the possible introduction of specialist gender trained units led by as many women police officers as possible. Lastly, every endeavour must be made to eradicate the prevailing stigma surrounding rape. For, bluntly put, in each and every instance this affords sex offenders the upper hand. A good place to start might be to air on national television the 2014 British documentary that lifted the lid on the rape of young boys in Peshawar. Imran Khan himself appeared on camera in Pakistan’s Hidden Shame; in which he promised to raise the matter before Parliament. Now that the premiership is his, he is duty bound to do much, much more. * Also read ‘Patriarchy breeds the mindset that caused Kasur child’s rape, murder’ Published in Daily Times, August 12th 2018.