Reporting child abuse
It is often said that children make ‘perfect’ victims for perpetrators. This is because they are unable to protect themselves due to their level of physical and mental development and…
Is it child abuse?
HERE is a narrative to introduce the subject so close to my heart. At a family gathering, I was chatting with my cousin’s granddaughter, a lively girl of three. As…
Covid-19 and child abuse
The world has suffered through epidemics and pandemics in the past. Experience tells us that child abuse and neglect increase during such periods. Apart from increasing mortality and morbidity all…
Child abuse is preventable
In March 2000, an additional sessions judge in Lahore sentenced an alleged serial killer Javed Iqbal, 38, to death by hanging for sexually molesting and murdering around 100 destitute children…
Dealing with child abuse
THE abduction, rape and murder of eight-year-old Zainab in Kasur in January 2018 shook the entire nation out of its complacency in such cases. But hopes of a decline in…
Shame, guilt and child abuse
It was news of the most grotesque kind. In villages around the city of Kasur in Punjab, a ring of paedophiles was busted upon the complaint of some aggrieved parents.…
Disabled children at higher risk of abuse, UNICEF says
Disabled children are three to four times more likely than children without disabilities to be victims of physical and sexual violence, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Thursday. Lack…
Are the children safe?
Every morning, millions of children walk into schools across Pakistan with hopes, dreams and a desire to learn. Yet, behind these school walls, many face risks that threaten not only…
Theft of childhood
LAST month, I travelled through Pakistan’s four provinces to oversee UNFPA projects and initiatives. I also engaged with partners to get their perspectives on development amid the recent geopolitical and…
Criminalising child marriage
CHILD marriage persists in Pakistan for many reasons, and ending the practice requires measures that are sensitive to the problem’s complexity. Debates on child marriage tend to reduce this complexity…
