Abused at work
CHILDREN are a country’s most precious investment. But in Pakistan, poor children don’t fall in this category. Even after 75 years of existence, we as a nation have not given…
Entrenched abuse
IN the shadow of Zainab Ansari’s tragic case in 2018, the 2020 conviction of Sohail Ayaz for child sexual abuse casts a spotlight on the epidemic of such crimes in…
Redressal for sexual violence survivors
The conviction rate in cases of sexual violence increased from three per cent to 16 per cent during 2022-2023. Data suggests that the reporting rate has also increased. About 12…
Addressing endemic abuse
A number of international organizations have faced high-profile allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by staff members and contractors in several instances during emergency-crisis response activities. In a 2018 report on…
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…
Special courts and sexual violence
In the backdrop of the Lahore motorway rape case, President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi exercised his presidential powers under Clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution of the…
Fear and abuse
IT happened every Friday. According to the statement recorded when the complaint was lodged with the police, Mufti Azizur Rehman, who is accused of sexually assaulting a madressah student, did it every…
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…
