In Pakistan, 12 Children Subjected To Sexual Abuse Daily: Report

News Desk

Islamabad: A total of 2,227 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in 86 newspapers this year, from January to June 2023. As many as 12 children on average every day were subjected to sexual abuse, according to the latest Sahil report.

Also, a total of 963 cases of accidents or violence with children were reported.

Sahil has launched ‘The six Months Cruel Numbers Report 2023’, a data set on child sexual abuse cases reported in newspapers during the first six months of 2023. The purpose of the data is to provide facts and figures about child sexual abuse and its dynamics and to contribute to existing information on child sexual abuse (CSA) in Pakistan.

The report states that out of the total 2227 reported cases, 54 per cent were girls and 46 per cent were boys. And the age group 6-15 years is the most vulnerable as 47 per cent of the cases were in this age group. The victims of CSA were 593 boys and 457 girls.

As many as 760 child deaths were reported, including 268 cases of drowning, 148 murdered, 144 were involved in accidents, 61 committed suicide and 18 other kinds of incidents were reported.

Moreover, in 16 per cent of cases, crimes against children occurred at the abuser’s place because the abusers trap the innocent children and take them to their places and abuse them.

Out of the total reported cases of child abuse, 88 per cent of cases were registered with the police. In 25 cases, the case was either not registered with the police or the police refused to register the case.

Furthermore, 45 per cent of cases of child abuse were reported from rural areas and 55 per cent cases were reported from urban areas.

Source: Sahil Six Months Cruel Numbers Report 2023