Child abuse is an open secret in Pakistan. Nearly 2/3 of all children in Pakistan go through some form of sexual abuse/assault. And the issue is swept away for the sake of honor and respect of the family. Other studies put the number even higher at 70-85% .
What Happened?
Recently, in a case of child abuse in Karachi, the authorities have arrested a suspect for being involved in child pornography. The law enforcement agency received a report on November 27 and after conducting an inquiry arrested a suspect from the city’s Metroville area. According to FIA cybercrime deputy director Abdul Ghaffar, various illegal videos and pictures were taken into custody by the police from the suspect. The suspect had recorded 10 children in videos of pornographic nature; these children were aged from 10 till 13 years. The officer explained that the suspect had created several fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram through which he targeted young children and invited them to a Whatsapp group. After coercing the victims into sending pornographic content, the suspect blackmailed their families into giving him money.
Our Collective Amnesia
Surprisingly the FIA called this case “first of its nature” whereas that would be a blatant lie. There have been many cases of child pornography ring being revealed in Pakistan, but nothing ever really happens even after such suspects are caught because of the influence of people who are behind these cases. Our collective amnesia is far too strong perhaps as we seem to have forgotten the Kasur Case already. Even after coming to national attention and traumatizing hundreds of children, the predators were not really punished.
The problem is unlikely to be solved unless we actually address the issue of pedophilia in Pakistan, an issue which doesn’t really receive much attention because of the taboo against talking about sexuality and sex education. If we want our children to be safe in our homes, schools and on the streets we must learn to break the idea of social taboos and talk about sexuality.