Child Abuse Cases in Pakistan: A Five-year Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the number of child abuse cases in Pakistan over the course of five years (2012-2016) along with multifactorial impact of demographic variables on the situation.
Subjects & Methods: It was a cross sectional study done by collecting the data from the non-profit organization working for child rights, Sahil. After the data collection, the cases were distributed according to various factors such as gender and age. Graphical demonstration for clear distribution of cases has also been done.
Results: Over the time, cases have gradually risen from 2788 in 2012 to 4139 in 2016. The highest number of these cases were reported in Punjab and lowest in Gilgit Baltistan with predominantly higher percentages in girls (61%) than boys (39%). 70% of all these cases had involvement of perpetrators known to child or child’s family. However, regardless of the situation’s adversity, a large number of cases still remain unreported and very few of the reported cases result in court convictions.
Conclusion: Children in age group 11-15 are most likely to be the child abuse victims, with biggest threat from their relatives/acquaintances.