ISLAMABAD – Punjab government has decided to start school-based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse and to aware juniors to recognise and avoid predators.
The provincial government has decided to step up the efforts against child sexual abuse with special subjects for schoolchildren as the matter is still considered taboo to discuss with children.
The recent move aimed to curb the alarming rise in sexual abuse incidents involving children. Lately, a report by Home Department revealed significant increase in the child abuse crime rate in the region.
Education officials have issued clear stern orders for all concerned authorities, stressing the education awareness program, and teachers and school administrators have been directed to start informative lectures to prevent violence against minors.
Under the awareness program, the government will introduce steps to identify suspicious persons to handle cases of sexual harassment while students will be encouraged to share information about violence within school premises.
The shocking report revealed that 70pc of child abuse victims in Punjab were boys, as the region reported over 1,400 incidents in the first five months of 2023. 965 victims were boys while 435 were girls.
