Sahil, a non-profit organization working for the rights of children in Pakistan, has published a new report, “Six Months Cruel Numbers 2023”, revealing cases of sexual violence reported in the first half of 2023.
A total of 2,227 children have been subjected to sexual violence from January to June this year alone. This means that on an average, 12 kids have suffered sexual violence every day in these months.
The source for Sahil’s data are media reports; the actual number of cases might be higher considering all cases are not documented.
1,207 of the cases are of girls — more than half, 54 percent. While 1,020 of the cases are of boys. In the same period in 2022, the number of girls encountering abuse was the same as 2023, while cases involving boys have risen.
Age bracket:
The most vulnerable to abuse are in the age group of 6-15 years, in which more boys than girls were victimised. This age bracket makes up 47 percent of the total cases recorded — 593 boys and 457 girls.
Types of cases:
Cases of abduction are still the most prevalent with 44 per cent, 13 per cent cases of sodomy, 10 per cent of cases of rape and nine per cent of cases of missing children were reported.
53 cases of pornography have also been reported that are being tracked by the Federal Investigation Agency on the dark web. As per the report, 72 per cent of victims were boys and 28 per cent of victims were girls
Abusers:
2,531 abusers have been involved in child abuse in the first six months of 2023. In most cases, they were acquainted or related to the victims or their families.
The abusers were acquaintances in 912 cases, strangers in 498 cases, and both in 215 cases.
Location:
According to the report, between January and June, the crime was committed at the “abuser’s place because the abusers trap innocent children and take them to their places”.
However, in most cases, the place of abuse remained unknown with 31 per cent committed in the streets, 11 per cent at victims’ place, four per cent in fields, and two percent at places of worship.
45 per cent cases were reported from rural areas and 55 per cent from urban areas.
As per provincial breakdown, the highest number of cases, 74 per cent, were reported from Punjab, followed by 14 per cent from Sindh, seven per cent from Islamabad, three per cent from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two per cent from Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
88 per cent of all the cases were registered with police while 25 cases were either not filed or police refused to register them.
Violence against children:
Sahil also reveal that a total number of 963 cases of accident and/or violence were allegedly reported against the children among who 760 died: 268 drowned, 148 murdered, 144 accidents and 61 children committed suicide.
Highest number reported were from Sindh with 483 cases followed by Punjab in second place with 233 cases.
