Thread by @AuratMarchKHI

C for Child Abuse:

One of the most vulnerable factions in any society is that of children, and it won't be wrong to say that our society has totally failed them due to the rampant child abuse.
#AuratMarch2021 #AtoZofPatriarchalViolence #PatriarchyKaPandemic #ChildProtection

Child abuse takes many forms, which can be broadly categorized as physical, sexual, & emotional. Physical child abuse includes child labour & hitting (or physically harming) children - which is a common practice employed by parents under the guise of "disciplining" them.

Sexual child abuse spans from child marriages to child pornography and sexual assault. Emotional child abuse, which is the most common form of child abuse globally, can refer to a wide range of behaviors such as verbal abuse, emotional neglect, withholding of affection...

making children witnesses to another person's physical or emotional abuse.

Child sexual abuse is prevalent inside homes & seminaries, at the hands of the people who are supposed to protect children. More than 12 cases of child sexual abuse a day are reported in Pakistan -

with girls disproportionately affected - according to Sahil, an organisation that works on child protection. This is despite the fact that multiple such cases go unreported. Furthermore, child marriages are a common occurrence throughout the country.

One of the latest cases of child marriages to have come to the forefront is that of a 64 year old JUI-F MNA with a 14 year old girl; along with being abhorrent from a human rights' lens, this is also a direct violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act.

While child abuse causes a lot of anger in our society (& rightfully so), enough isn't being done to stop it from happening. We don't have
child protection centres or shelters for children being abused in spite of Sindh having a Child Protection Authority.

Along with strengthening our institutions & laws to adequately rehabilitate child abuse victims, it is our collective responsibility as a society to ensure that the need for externally rehabilitating them doesn't arise - which can only happen if children receive the care, love...

and basic rights (including the right to education) they deserve at home in the first place. Simultaneously, there is a need to educate our children about safe and unsafe touch through sex education at schools and homes, for a more child-friendly future.