Concerns rised over increased child abuse crime rate in Pakistan

In addition, victim-blaming attitudes and a lack of knowledge about children's rights made it much harder to address and prevent the crimes

Lahore: Serious concerns have emerged after the child abuse crime rate has surged in Punjab province in Pakistan, with more boys subjected to the abuse than girls in the last six months, Dawn reported citing a confidential report of the home department on Friday.

The report made some disturbing revelations, such as that 13 per cent of the attackers were related to the victims, 32 per cent were utter strangers, and 55 per cent were neighbors of the victims.

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The Rawalpindi region and Lahore city had the lowest rates of child abuse compared to other parts of the province, according to the department’s data analysis on child abuse in Punjab by region employing field employees, Dawn reported. The report also identified a number of crucial elements as the main obstacles to reducing child sexual abuse in Punjab.

According to the report, 1,390 incidences of child abuse were reported in Punjab during the first five and a half months of this year, with 959 (69 per cent) victims being boys and 431 (31 per cent) victims being girls.

The department also provided recommendations for reducing child abuse crimes, and it forwarded the report to the regional police officers (RPOs) and the capital city police officer (CCPO) of Lahore with instructions to abide by them strictly.

According to the research, cases of [child abuse] are often submitted in Punjab, and more boys than girls report their experiences or complaints due to lack of law and order in the region, reported Dawn. In addition, victim-blaming attitudes and a lack of knowledge about children’s rights made it much harder to address and prevent the crimes.