Daily Times

Michel Foucault, a famous French philosopher, argued that evil is a mirror image of society. Child abuse is one of the most heinous crimes against humanity. A child who gets abused does not only go through physical and emotional trauma but also develops negative characteristics, which becomes part of his/her character. A plethora of empirical evidence indicates that child abuse victims, if neglected or not treated, become child abuse perpetrators. This victim-to-victimiser cycle perpetuates in society and systematically, child abuse becomes a social norm in various cultures.

In Pakistan, for the past couple of years, the news of child abuse has become a new social norm. The child molestation porn videos from Kasur to the heinous crime against Zainab made headlines. It is the first time that people on streets, social media and members of the National Assembly are openly discussing punishment for a child abuse perpetrator. However, the question remains: would public capital punishment end this heinous crime or does something in the socio-cultural fabric of society need to be changed? Although I truly believe that child abuse perpetrators should be given the highest possible punishment, as a society, we need to think more deeply about how to eliminate this evil, which is responsible for destroying our future generations.

Firstly, in a conservative society like Pakistan, an open discussion about child abuse is a good sign. However, reports of many international rights organisations suggest that girls, if they are abused in conservative societies, try to hide it from their family members and friends. Research also suggests that boys try to hide child abuse too due to the concept of masculinity in South Asian culture. This communication gap exists because of the power gap between parents and children in the subcontinent. Therefore, a broader social change is needed if we want to break the hierarchical power system and give the voice to the vulnerable child abuse victims in the current social environment in Pakistan.

Secondly, it could be observed through social media trends that if a girl is sexually abused, she is considered as being responsible for the crime because of her clothing and lifestyle. This shaming of the victim further motivates child abuse predators to leech on the weaknesses of vulnerable girls. Therefore, lawmakers and human rights activists should consider broader means through which the onus of the crime should be on the perpetrator, not on the victim.

In developed countries like the USA and the UK, details of a child abuse victim and their family details are not shared with anyone in public. However, one can see in Pakistan that pictures and videos of child abuse victims are circulated publicly. The blatant portrayal of child abuse victims further demotivates families to report about this heinous crime.

Sex education should be part of the early curriculum so that children can know about their basic rights

Thirdly, one can observe that the electronic media of Pakistan tries to sell the emotional element while reporting child abuse victims and families. This portrayal of child abuse families as weak, police being the supporter of the powerful, and the powerful being not punished further motivates the child abuse predators. Therefore, electronic media should develop a proper code of conduct to address this issue.

Fourthly, the sensitisation of the police force is needed to handle child abuse issues. Family members of an abused child go through an emotional trauma, and therefore, the role of policeshould be to facilitate child abuse victims rather than interrogate them. The respectable judiciary should consider holdingchild abuse cases in camera to protect the privacy of child abuse victims and their families.

Fifthly, Muslim scholars and ulema should play their role to change the social fabric of society rather than blaming the western world and popular media to be the cause of child abuse. As with the growth of the Internet, access to pornography will increase in the current era. Rather than blaming the digital world, Muslim ulema should focus on preaching moral values and societal norms to the next generation.

Finally, sexeducation should be part of the early curriculum so that children can know about their basic rights. Teachers and school administration should be open to discussing child abuse cases. Lawmakers should motivate schools to report sexual abuse cases. This openness will help in the growth of society.

As a society, we have to bring the change in our socio-political sphere to end the heinous crime of child abuse.

The writer is a Ph.D. student of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M, University, USA