Activists say always more boys between the ages of six and 10 are being sexually harassed and raped.
The number of young boys being sexually abused in Pakistan has increased this year, according to a new report, for the time ever with more boys being targeted than girls. The total number increased by 4.3% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year, said the study, which was published recently by NGO fighting child sex abuse in Pakistan. The report said 178 boys aged six to 10 were abused, compared to 150 girls in the same age range.
Young boys seem to be often easier targets. “Young boys are exposed to such crimes because they play in the streets and spend more time outdoors as compared to young girls,” a spokesperson reports.
The number of female perpetrators of assaults has also increased, with the report saying also that 102 cases of child sex abuse from January to June of this year involved female accomplices – five times as many as the same period in 2014.
Last year authorities recorded more than 3,500 registered cases in total, with a possible figure that could be as high as 10,000, including the unreported cases.
Earlier this month, Pakistan took a step towards punishing those guilty of abusing young girls with life imprisonment – or even the death penalty – after an influential parliamentary committee voted to amend current laws. But the amendment only addresses the sexual abuse of girls aged under 14, and doesn’t even mention abuse case on boys.
In August ’15, the biggest child abuse case in Pakistan’s history was uncovered, involving nearly 300 children who lawyers said were filmed while abused and their parents subsequently blackmailed.
Source article: Abuse of young boys rises in Pakistan: report