Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Bangladesh has seen a disturbing rise in child sexual abuse and murder after rape in recent times causing concern to the people.
In yet another shameful incident, a 7-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in the capital on Friday night amid alarming rise in offences against children.
The rights activists blamed a weak justice system and moral degradation for the rising number of child sexual abuse cases in the country.
Furthermore, they said, the government was not doing enough to safeguard the rights of children. Even, child sex abuse victims are often “mistreated” and “humiliated” if they chose to seek help.
Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) reported at least 496 cases of child rape in the first six months of the current year.
Among the 496 reported rapes, 23 children were murdered after rape. Dozens of rape cases were also reported in the media during the period.
“Sexual violence against children has become so rampant in Bangladesh. The surge in the violence shows “moral degradation” and a “decline in humanism” of society,” Nur Khan, a rights activist, told The New Nation.
He said that in many cases children are abused either at home, school, or their neighbourhood. Most alarming is that they are murdered after being violated.
“A weak criminal justice system encouraged the culprits to commit such a heinous crime,” said Nur Khan.
He cited that a poor monitoring system lead to rise in child sexual abuse cases in educational institutions across the country. “The government should implement proper protection mechanisms in educational institutions and reform the judicial system to ensure that child abuse cases are reported and tried.”
“There has been an unnerving increase in sexual abuse of children accompanied by murder. Such a growing crime has alarmed the nation,” said Advocate Fauzia Karim, President of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA).
She also said that the real figure of child rape and abuses might be much higher because we only notice those reported in media, but many cases are unreported.
“The culture of impunity has led to rise in child abuse cases. Even many cases go unreported due to social stigma that make it difficult to talk about the sexual abuses of children in public,” she said.
When asked, Advocate Fauzia Karim said, “Yes, no country in the world is free from child abuse. But, many countries have already taken collective measures to prevent the crime realising its gravity and impact on victims’ families.”
“But, we have failed to respond to this massive social menace due to a complex and lengthy legal justice system and negligence from everyone in society,” she said, adding that the state has a lot to do about protection of child rights and combat sexual violence against child.
She also said that rapists should be ensured exemplary punishment so that none can dare to commit the same crime again.
