Hardly does a day pass that we do not hear about children being abused. This shall not be out of place to say that crimes against children are seeing new heights with each passing day. This year, Sahil, an NGO that works for children rights in Pakistan, noted that 2,960 cases of child abuse were reported. To put this figure into perspective, at least eight children were abused every day, last year. Given the mentioned statistics, on one hand, it can be assumed that crimes against children have increased over the last few years, but on the other hand, the reported crimes indicate the courage of victim families who did not choose to keep the crimes committed against their children in mystery. They instead reported the matters to Law Enforcing Agencies (LEAs). Needless to say, it is very encouraging that people have more courage to report crimes committed against their children as compared to the past. This courage must not be discouraged at all costs. Several stumbling blocks prevent victim families to report matters to LEAs. One of the impediments, which always remain on the top, is the fear of the disclosure of the identity of the victim. Indeed, this is a genuine fear. While the advent of social media and its use has helped raise voices against many social problems including child abuse, it has also put victims’ identities at stake one way or the other.
Letting out the identity of a victim of rape, particularly of the children, is a crime.
For example, certain amendments were made in Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure through the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences Relating to Rape) Act, 2016. Through this Act, Section 376-A was inserted in PPC prohibiting disclosure of the identity of the victim of rape.
Under this provision, whoever prints or publishes the name or any matter which may make the known identity of victims against whom an offence of rape is alleged or found to have been committed shall be punished up to three years imprisonment and shall also be liable to fine.
The Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance 2002 also has a provision related to the confidentiality of a rape victim or a child victim of sexual abuse. The mentioned Ordinance provides an Ethical Code of Practice. Rule 14 of the Code reads: “In the case of sexual offences and heinous crime against children, juveniles and women, names and identifying photographs shall not be published.”
Letting out the identity of a victim of rape, particularly of the children, is a crime.
There is a legitimate question: is the confidentiality of victims of rape, particularly children, observed despite several laws criminalizing it? The answer can hardly be in the affirmative. Newspaper and online reports are replete with the names and other identity disclosing information of those who have fallen victim to sexual assault and other this ilk heinous crimes. A few months back, a self-touted human rights organization’s Facebook page, which has about 134K followers at the time of writing, shared a post carrying the name of a minor girl who had been allegedly sexually assaulted by her maternal grandfather. No sooner did I happen to read it than I contacted the admin of the page and requested to remove the name of that victim. To the credit of the admin, in doing so s/he wasted no time. In such negligence, the police are no exception. Victims report crimes to police stations where lower-ranking officials are posted. The latter are usually less aware of the sensitivity of victims’ information. They also do not grab opportunities to attend workshops that could help build their relevant knowledge and bring the sensitivity of the victims’ information home to them. Workshops by organizations working for women and children rights are rarely organized. If organized though, it is the high-ranking officials who attend them and so the officials posted at police stations level are deprived of the knowledge they must be imparted. Until the police, press and electronic media realize the importance of the issue in question; victims’ identity shall go a long way to be protected. Early in June, Sahil organized a workshop on ‘Sensitization on Child protection & Reporting’ for journalists to discuss the importance of protecting children from abuse in Islamabad. The same should be organized for all the concerned, particularly lower-ranking police officials, with whom victims have to have direct interaction. The practice of letting out the identity of rape victims not only does bring shame to victims and their families but it may discourage future victims to report crimes as well. Obliviously, this society has yet not reached the level where one is less worried about social stigmas. Taking the mentioned facts into account, it is high time all the relevant quarters took this issue seriously and avoid such mistakes in future.
The writer holds a degree in Sociology and International Relations and tweets @numanbacha20.