ISLAMABAD -UNS: Over 1865 women kidnapped, 142 cases of sexual violence against women and 114 women murdered while 179 cases of child labor and 71 cases of child sexual abuse across Sindh in the first 10 Months of
KARACHI-UNS :Over 1865 women kidnapped, 142 cases of sexual violence against women and 114 women murdered while 179 cases of child labor and 71 cases of child sexual abuse across Sindh in the first 10 Months of 2022.
According to research by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) and the Center for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC), there was an alarmingly high number of cases of kidnapping, sexual abuse, domestic violence and human trafficking of women and children in the province of Sindh during January 2022 to October 2022, according to data received from the Sindh Police.
Among all indicators of violence against women, kidnapping and abduction had the highest number with a total of 1865 cases across the province, 58.4% of them reported from the Karachi only. Likewise, the number of cases of sexual abuse were also alarmingly high, with 142 cases of sexual abuse, of which 93.7% of cases were rape cases, 4.9% were gang rape cases and 1.4% cases were of incest. This was followed by domestic violence, as 139 cases of physical domestic abuse (beating) were lodged with the police, while another 114 cases of murder as a result of domestic violence were reported. In terms of both types of domestic violence cases, Hyderabad had the highest number of cases.
A further 109 cases of human trafficking were also registered in these ten months, with 50.5% of cases registered in Karachi only, while 29 cases of bonded labor were also registered, all of them from Karachi. Finally, looking at honor-based violence, 80 cases of honor killing were reported, with an increasingly disproportionate amount of such incidents occurring in Larkana (57.5%).
If we look at cases of violence against children, 434 cases were reported to the police. Among these, the highest number of were of child labor under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018, with a total of 179 cases. 85.5% of the victims were boys and 14.5% of the victims were girls. Moreover, 98.9% of all cases were from Karachi only, which is alarming. Similarly, the number of cases of kidnapping was also staggeringly high, as 121 cases were reported across the province, with 71.9% from Karachi only. Linking this with human trafficking, it is quite possible that many of these kidnapping cases may be for the purpose of trafficking children across provinces and even the border.
The next highest prevalence was of cases of sexual violence directed toward children with 71 cases. 41 cases of sodomy were reported to the police, where more than half of the cases occurred in only two ranges out of six: Hyderabad (13) and Sukkur (11). A further 30 cases were also reported of general sexual abuse of children, without specifying the exact nature of abuse and the majority of these cases occurred in the Karachi range (60%).
If these numbers are compared to the numbers reported by the Punjab Police in the same ten-month timespan, there is a vast difference. While there were 142 cases of sexual violence against women reported in Sindh, there were a shockingly high 3088 cases of sexual abuse of women in Punjab. Similarly, even if we combine all cases of child abuse in Sindh, it amounts to a total of 434 cases, whereas 4503 cases of child were reported from Punjab, almost ten times as much.
Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director SSDO, stated, “The purpose of collecting this data is to identify the hotspots of crimes against women and children, so that it can be used as a reference point for policymakers and relevant stakeholders to take strict action, in the exact areas that need the intervention. This is especially true for smaller, and more far-flung districts where there might not be enough resources currently and that need special attention.
