THE efforts being made by Ministry of Human Rights for protection of children are something that needs to be recognised, applauded and hopefully these steps will finally pay off.
It has now flagged off a good touch — bad touch campaign across the country to sensitise the people as to how they can better protect children from sexual predators.
Indeed awareness of both the parents and children is a must if we really want to put a stop to growing cases of abuse as legislation or awarding strict punishment to the abusers would alone not be helpful.
If that had been case then there would have been no sexual abuse incident after a convicted person was awarded death penalty in Zainab case.
According to a recent report by Child Protection Organisation Sahil, more than ten children were subjected to sexual abuse on average everyday between January and June this year. The average number of children subjected to abuse has increased by two children per day in comparison with the last year’s January-June report.
In fact as the organisation relies solely on cases reported in newspapers, since most of the incidents go unreported, therefore, in our view, Sahil’s figures are just tip of the iceberg and such cases in fact are far higher.
Whilst child abuse or kidnapping is by no means a recent phenomenon, greater media attention on the issue, along with important advocacy work by activists and public reaction to several high-profile crimes against minors have all brought this serious issue to the limelight.
This is why now special attention is being given by government circles to address it not only through legislative measures but also awareness campaigns.
Hence, we consider that good touch — bad touch campaign is a step in the right direction. It will apprise parents of their responsibilities who indeed should keep an eye on their children’s activities as well as those around them.
The children should also be encouraged to speak about their concerns and uncomfortable feelings. Most importantly, if the abuse has taken place, then it must not be kept secret but reported to police so that action could be taken against the culprit to save other children.
