First Lady Bibi Asifa Bhutto Zardari on Friday said that every child had an absolute right to grow up safe at home, school, in the community and increasingly, in the digital world.
In a statement on child protection, she said violence, abuse, exploitation or neglect of a child could never be dismissed as a private matter, social custom or an unfortunate circumstance.
“When a child is harmed, society has failed in its most basic duty of care,” she said.
Asifa said children across the world continued to face physical and sexual violence, trafficking, forced labour, child marriage, exploitation and abuse online.
She said the United Nations had repeatedly warned that violence against children remained widespread yet preventable, adding that protecting children required political will, strong institutions and sustained action.
“In Pakistan, this responsibility is especially urgent,” she said, adding that recent evidence concerning online exploitation of children reminded that threats to childhood were evolving rapidly.
She said technology must expand children’s opportunities, education and knowledge and must never become a doorway through which predators entered their lives.
The first lady said that child protection could not begin only after a tragedy had occurred and must begin with prevention, including informed parents, safe schools, trained teachers, responsive police and social services, stronger protection mechanisms, responsible digital platforms and communities willing to speak when they saw a child at risk.
She said that where a crime against a child had occurred, there must be no silence, stigma or protection for the perpetrator.
