FROM January 1 till June 30, at least 1,387 children in Bangladesh have been subjected to various forms of violence and abuse. A child rights body estimated that the number of abuse approximately 277 in a month. Apart from that, child domestic workers, students in schools and madrasahs, child labourers, and street children are subject to violence and torture. Torturing children has long implications in his/her behaviour and growth. As every child nurtures huge potentials, the government and social elites should come up with such programs to secure the future of today’s children.
Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. During the first six months, 552 children died unnaturally. Of that 79 were suicides, 122 were road accidents, 208 drownings, 24 electrocutions, and the other 119 deaths were due to snake bites, falling from trees, burning, among others. There were 365 cases of rape and sexual harassment. Of them, 227 were rapes, 60 were attempted rapes, and 66 were sexual harassments, while nine were victims of child pornography. Five of the rape victims also committed suicide. There were 45 incidents related to child marriage. Thirty-one of them were rescued, while 10 became victims of early marriage.
Child torture is directly relative to the households’ financial conditions. In the low-income community, children are subject to forced labour, domestic violence, malnutrition, stunting, etc. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government should provide relief for the children in low-income families and take extra care as the schools are shut, mid-day tiffin could not be provided with.
To curb child abuses, experts urged the government to ensure speedy trial of culprits, protection of eyewitnesses and family members of the victims, providing legal assistance to poor victims and increased monitoring. Emphasis on building awareness among parents and legal guardians and strengthening monitoring in the schools also required.
