500,000 children face physical assaults every year in Pakistan: Expert

About five lakh children are subjected to physical assaults every year in Pakistan, according to a report released by child experts.

The report is a grim reminder of Pakistan's human rights situation and rampant prevalence of child abuse in the country, reported Pak vernacular media, Sindh Express.

According to the report, around 46 lakh girl children are married at less than 15 years of their age, and about 1.90 crore children are married even before they are 18 years of age.

"We think the federal government should go for a crackdown against such malpractices; also those pressurizing children for begging be immediately arrested and be it, parents or guardians," said the report.

Further, the report suggested that children found begging on roads should be given safe shelter and strategies be made for making them good citizens by getting them education and skill training, reported Sindh Express.

It is an admitted fact that whatever atmosphere a child gets from birth till the age of seven years, has a long-lasting impact on the child's personality/future.

The experts' report further directed the government to take immediate concrete measures and to set up institutions or set up committees to deal with issues, reported Pak vernacular media.

Earlier, Pakistani newspaper The News International reported that the data revealed that during the past six months nearly 2,211 child abuse cases with both boys and girls were registered.

Notably, the data on the sexual abuse of children was collected from 79 newspapers. The majority of the cases can be categorised as rape, sodomy and abduction for sexual abuse, The News International reported.

Moreover, as per gender split analysis, the female reported cases of child sexual abuse are more in number than male cases.

Out of the total of 2,211 children, 1,004 were boys and 1,207 were girls, according to data collected by the publication.

The report further stated that nearly 803 boys and girls were kidnapped, and among them, 298 were boys and 243 were girls, who were allegedly either raped or sodomised, while numbers of gang rape/sodomy cases were also very high as 128 children were subjected for the physical abuse and among which 41 were girls and 87 were boys.

As many as 1,564 cases in Punjab, 338 cases in Sindh, 199 cases in Islamabad, 77 cases in KPK, and 23 cases in Baluchistan as well as 10 cases in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, were reported, the report stated.

Nearly 52 per cent of cases were reported from urban areas and 48 per cent of cases were reported from rural areas, it added.

The Human Rights Watch in its Annual World Report 2022 cited allegations of extensive rights abuses against women along with children in Pakistan, which ranks 167 out of 170 countries on the Global Women, Peace and Security Index.

"Violence against women and girls, including rape, murder, acid attacks, domestic violence, and forced marriage is endemic throughout Pakistan. Human Rights defenders estimate that roughly 1,000 women are killed in so-called honour killings every year," said the HRW report.

Last year, Pakistan was placed 153rd on the Global Gender Gap index. Given the endless horrors and discomfort that women are forced to live through in a land of men, Pakistan is in the company of sub-Saharan countries (many of which are undergoing existential crises) should not surprise anyone.