ISLAMABAD: As the world has made strides in sexual and reproductive health and rights over the last 30 years, the number of women who cannot benefit from this is still in millions. These observations were made on Tuesday when UNFPA launched the annual report on the State of the World Population 2024 under the theme `Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights`. It said the way forward
Child Rights in Focus
GUJAR KHAN: A constable of the Anti-Corruption Police was booked in Jhelum for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl on 6 May 2024. According to police sources, the accused was posted in Rawalpindi and escaped after committing the crime. A case was registered with Civil Lines police station on the complaint of his wife. According to the first information report (FIR), Sumera Bano, a resident of Islampura Mohallah in Jhelum, stated that she had been
DADU: Police arrested a primary schoolteacher posted in a village near Jhol town in Sanghar district on 7 May 2024 on charges of raping a girl student of class fifth. Jhol police registered an FIR against the teacher under Section 338-A (Punishment for Isqat-i-haml) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint lodged by the victim`s mother. Sanghar SSP Aijaz Ahmed Shaikh told Dawn that police had the 14-year-old victim checked up at a
BAHAWALPUR: Two minor girls, one of them a student of a madressah, were allegedly raped in separate incidents occurring in Mailsi, Vehari district, and Basti Malook near Lodhran. According to police sources, Mureed Hussain complained to the Mailsi city police that his 15-year-old daughter was alone in his house in Razaabd locality, when the suspect, a resident of Dharampura locality, barged in and allegedly raped her. The police, on the father`s complaint, registered an
SWAT: The police on 6 May 2024 detained several individuals for their alleged involvement in solemnising marriage of a teenage girl to a 70 year-old man. Among those apprehended were the Nikah Khawan, the girl’s father, and witnesses to the ceremony. Initial reports from Ghaliegey police had stated that the bride was a 13 year-old girl, who had recently been promoted from fifth to sixth grade. Local sources disclosed that a substantial amount of
Education is essential for every child as it provides a pathway to a better standard of living, self-awareness, a promising future, and understanding of our responsibilities and rights. However, it’s alarming that 26.2 million children in Pakistan are out of school, representing 39 per cent of the school-age population. This problem is rooted in factors like poverty, familial issues, parental ignorance, unemployment, and neglect. Financial constraints prevent many children from accessing education, as around
Pakistan has many legislations for the protection of women and safeguarding women’s rights but the burning question is the implementation of those laws and delayed justice. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) approximately 1,000 women are killed in honour killings annually. These figures differ and do not fully reflect the scope of honour killings because these crimes are often underreported and stigmatised in society. The majority of the cases are reported
This video discusses Muslim family law and the law on the custody of children in Pakistan in the case of parental separation. It explains that under Islamic law, children’s custody is initially granted to the mother until the age of 7 for boys while she retains the daughter’s custody till her puberty. However, the father is still responsible for the children’s expenses and welfare even when in the mother’s custody.
ISLAMABAD: Health experts have blamed the lack of coordination between the federal and the provincial governments for the resurgence of polio cases in the country, saying the decision to hand over the anti-polio programme to `outsiders` from the global health agencies in 2021 exacerbated the situation. In this year, over 100 environmental samples have been found positive for polio and two children have been paralysed due to this virus. According to experts who spoke
Seema’s battle with fistula unveils the tragedy of early marriage, urging society to confront the intertwined dangers of child marriage and women’s health crises. Seema, a resident of Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan, received the title, ‘Woman of the Year’, not for her achievements, but for a fate imposed upon her at a tender age: child marriage. One can’t help but wonder how entering into a marriage contract at a tender age warrants this title.
Several people glorify different forms of abusive behaviour by parents to discipline children, despite the existence of non-abusive alternatives that work well. When asked about the long-term consequences of such abuse, they are unaware at best or dismissive at worst. Dismissive answers can be as simple as `we turned out fine` or, in a nostalgic reflection, they can bring up the virtues of `old school` parenting. This begs the question: if despite experiencing emotional
KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Sardar Ali Shah on 30 April 2024 informed Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah that the insufficient number of middle and secondary schools in the province was the major reason behind the 54 per cent drop-out rate for children at the post-primary level. He told a meeting of the school education department, chaired by the CM, that over 4.1 million children were out of school after primary school education as