Daily Times

If the rape and murder conviction in a much publicised case in Kasur had raised hope for an end to child abuse cases, the recent cases of a ten-year-old in Islamabad’s Chak Shehzad area and another child in Bunair, in the holy month of Ramazan, have once again increased the feeling of helplessness. Even the early reports had indications of the invlovement of a close relative. It was later reported that a cousin was indeed involved besides two other people.

The recent wave of such reports in the month of Ramazan also exposes the shallowness of religiosity in our society. In the Kasur case, the serial killer had pretended to be a devout religious worker.

According to the Kids Rights Index annual data for 2019, Pakistan ranks 151 among 180 countries, as far as child protection and development is concerned. The performance is judged in five domains: right to life, right to health, right to education, right to protection, and overall enabling environment for a child. Pakistan was the sixth country to ratify and sign the Convention on the Rights of the Child in September 1990, but the protection of rights still seems a far cry.

According to the annual report of Sahil, a non-government organisation, child abuse cases increased by 11 per cent in 2018 as compared to the previous year. The number of reported cases were 3,832 cases. 55 per cent of the victims were girls. It is unclear how many cases go unreported, as reporting of such cases is still a challenge. What are the reasons that despite numerous legislations implementation still remains a challenge? Looking at the CRC closely, either we have been dealing with child rights in isolation or they aren’t considered human rights.

The CRS has to be out of official documents and into the content of our textbooks as child rights do not mean anything in isolation

Human rights education along with child rights education is the missing link. There are several reasons for this. Culture, traditions, religious directives, poverty overpopulation, and lack of family planning are some of the core reasons. The society isn’t properly sensitized about child rights.

According to Article 13 of the CRC, a child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of the child’s choice.

In a patriarchal society, the family set-up is dictatorial. It is strongly supported by cultural norms and misinterpreted religious directives. The adult who has never exercised freedom of expression as a child will rarely allow the child to exercise this right. Barriers of so-called manners and discipline are inherent, and they trickle down to the next generation.

Over-reaction by a parent, fear of corporal punishment, insult or emotional outbursts are among the barriers created by adults to widen the gap between the parent and the child, ultimately resulting in many unsaid things that should have reached the parents in time.

Victims of child abuse rarely have the courage to talk to their parents or other adults about it. Their word is not trusted, as abusers are usually close and trusted people. In the Chak Shahzad case, a close relatives is among the suspects; in the Kasur case, the culprit was a neighbour. Girls are considered vulnerable, and boys are thought to be safe. Unfortuantely, this is not the case.

Technology has made a lot of information accessible to most people. Parents should use it to prevent child abuse.

Article 28 of the CRC talks about education as a right. At some of the educational institutions children still a lack of freedom of expression, corporal punishments, threats and harassment by some of their mentors. There have been many cases of abuse by teachers in schools and seminaries. Videos of harsh treatment at schools abound. Some parents do not have the slightest understandaing of how vulnerable their children are, and how they can be exploited. There is also a deficiency on the part of the state to provide quality education.

In many schools, syllabus at all levels has a child memorising values of honesty, truthfulness, and religious and other history but lessons about human body are skipped. The teacher-student relationship has to be beyond book, notebook and tests. Teachers as mentors prepare children for many things in life.

Our books rarely talk about human rights, including child rights and protection from abuse. We are rarely educated about rights of a child either at home or at school. Incidents of abuse are not unique to any society. Article 18 of the CRC talks about parental reponsibilties in the upbringing of a child. The parental role has to be more active now in accordance with technical advancements, as all kinds of information is a click away.

Parenting isn’t just about providing food, clothes, shelter and cell phones. It is about mentorship. It is about sharing and talking about every possible aspect of life. Parents should be the one to share the right information on any subject rather than someone with less knowledge or a bad intent. Let us put away the barriers in communication in the name of culture, in the name of genders and stereotypes. Parental love and affection are beyond the so-called given roles of gender. Parents hould talk to their children about have to protect themselves. Talking about sex education is a taboo, but we can see that the results are terrible.

Last but not the least: media. There is nodoubt that the media has been playing the vital role of a watch dog, but some of the content presented on TV in the name of awareness is one of the key factors for deterioration of ethical norms.

In an attempt to think out of the box, some writers disregrd the positive moral values of the society.

Finally, the cases of child abuse need to be thoroughly investigated and vigorously prosecuted. The child rgihts have to be move from official documents to the content of our textbooks as child rights do not mean anything in isolation. Child rights are human rights, and they need to be looked at with the involvement of all stakeholders. Let us protect our children.

The writer is a freelancer