Awareness and Training Workshop with Police/Traffic Police/Wardens 12th, 13th, 14th July, 2021
Introduction
The Awareness and Training Workshop with Police/Traffic Police/Wardens in Multan, Punjab is part of the efforts to support the Punjab Police/Traffic Police and Wardens for adaptation and improving the best practices and procedures for preventions, protection and ensuring that child rights especially sexual abuse offenders are brought to justice. The awareness and training workshop will also support and help in building the linkages with child protection bureau, police, traffic police warden and civil society organisations.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), sexual crimes against children is a gross violation of their rights, yet despite this, it remains a challenge within all countries and across social groups. Sexual abuse can take the form of harassment, sexual abuse, rape, or sexual exploitation in the form of prostitution or pornography. According to recent reports (SAHIL, 2020), within Pakistan, , the number of child sexual abuse cases reported has increased rapidly during the first part of 2020, with an average of six children being subjected to sexual abuse in a day. Of the total children who were subjected to sexual abuse, 53% were girls and 47% boys. According to the report most of the reported cases were in Punjab — at 57%. Of the rest, 32% were reported in Sindh and 6% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Alone, in 2018, an estimated, 3,832 incidences of child sexual abuse were reported; and these figures do not take into account the high number of cases which are likely to have gone unreported due to the shame and stigma attached with child sexual abuse.
Law enforcement agencies in Punjab have an important role to implement the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act, 2004 along with Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act, (ZARRA ACT) 2020. The workshop will provide support in understanding and exploring the best practices by the Punjab Police and support of traffic police in the prevention of child sexual abuse.



Role of MSWS to Promote Child Prevention and Raising Awareness
MSWS emerged as a society to provide awareness and to community through performing art and building capacity to prevent the tragedies like Zainab in district Qasoor. MSWS has partnered with Muslim Charity an international charity organisation based in UK to raise awareness among the public through the provision of performing art and building linkages among public and law enforcement agencies to prevent the issue of child sexual abuse.