perspective- child protection - Page 4

Juvenile Offenders in Punjab

The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal institutes and jails of Punjab province was 645 as on 15 March 2022 (Prisons Department, Govt. of Punjab). Out of the total number of juvenile offenders, 81% (523) juveniles were on trial (under trial) and 19% were convicted juvenile offenders. All juvenile offenders were male and no female…

Permitted age for employment of children as domestic workers

Do you know what the minimum age is for children in the different provinces of Pakistan to be employed as domestic workers? Child labour is a provincial subject in Pakistan after the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved the issue of labour and employment to the…

Missing Priya Kumari

The disturbing case of missing seven-year-old Priya Kumari has sparked a wave…

Child Marriages – A Vicious Cycle of Poverty and Abuse

KARACHI: Despite being illegal, child marriages continue to affect millions of young…

Ghost Schools

KARACHI: Apropos the letter “Ghost Teachers” published on September 19, 2024, the issue of ghost schools is another sad reality in Pakistan’s education system. These schools exist only in name, with buildings left abandoned and teachers still collecting salaries without fulfilling their responsibilities. However, the problem goes beyond just missing…

Child Beggary

CHILD begging, the ugliest form of child labour, is a curse on society. Ravaged by disease, crime, exploitation and drug abuse, hundreds of poor children populate Karachi’s intersections and street corners. The Sindh Child Protection Authority informed the Sindh Assembly recently that it was, in coordination with the provincial police,…

The Way She Wore

On the day I sat down to write this piece about a political leader’s objection to a woman’s clothing, this paper’s front page carried a photograph of doctors at Ganga Ram Hospital protesting the administration’s attempts to bury the alleged rape of a five-year-old girl. A member of the janitorial…

Babies Galore

OURS is a society where parents start planning their daughter’s marriage soon after she is born. Here the social compulsion for couples to prove their fertility is so great that they have their first child within a year or so after tying the knot. Worse still, women are desperate to…

Climate-driven Child Marriages

The prevalence of child marriages in certain parts of Pakistan, as exemplified by the recent reports of 45 underage girls being married off in Khan Muhammad Mallah village of Dadu in Sindh province, is utterly unacceptable. The directive issued by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to launch a thorough investigation…

Upcoming Film Spotlights Plight Of Kids In Brick Kilns

‘Under the Blaze’ presents a compelling tale of a child forced to trade his future for perilous conditions Rawalpindi. A child extends his skinny arms to place a warm, rust-coloured brick in a long line of freshly baked blocks laid out to dry under the blistering sun that glares upon…

Labour Codes For All Working People

THE provinces of Sindh and Punjab have, with the assistance of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), prepared draft labour codes. These new codes refashion the current fragmented labour laws. The codes are designed to comply with international labour standards by extending protection to all people who work for the first time in Pakistan’s history.…

Corporal Punishment: Impacts On A Child’s Psyche

The persistence of corporal punishment in our educational and parental systems raises crucial questions about its impact on a child’s personality. In this comprehensive study, we investigate the reasons behind the continued practice of corporal punishment and its debilitating effects on children’s growth, both mentally and physically. We examine the…

Breathing Poison

How many of us would willingly put our children in a room with toxic air? Ideally, none. But in reality, we are guilty of, and perhaps blissfully unaware of, pushing our children towards harm’s way. The latest research shows the shocking impact of passive smoking on school-age children in Pakistan…

LHC Sets Rules For Juvenile Safety

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Ali Zia Bajwa has directed the government to establish observation homes to provide safe shelter for juveniles in every district. Instructing the government to ensure prompt implementation of the Juvenile Act in a judgment, Justice Bajwa issued eight directives, observing that the physical separation…