Lahore:
To date, Pakistan has not been able to design formal legislation on the practice of adopting children, despite the fact that a large number of married couples receive the temporary guard of abandoned children each year.
Consequently, no effective surveillance system exists to prevent the abuse of adopted children, which are orphans twice in the face of non -declared exploitation, abuse and negligence which occur silently behind closed doors.
According to Syed Kausar Abbas, head of the organization of sustainable social development (SSDO), it is necessary to design legislation on the follow -up of children given in temporary custody.
“The authority granting temporary custody should form a committee which can go to the homes of adoptive families and personally assess the condition of these children, who may operate.
Abbas’ concerns are not unfounded given the dark assessment of the violence of the province against children. Sahil figures, an organization focused on mistreatment and exploitation of children, reveal that 1,630 cases of child abuse were reported nationally in the first six months of 2024, including 862 involving sexual abuse. The girls represented 59% of all cases reported, highlighting the sexospecific nature of the crisis.
“In the absence of an effective surveillance system, it is concern that the adopted children, in particular girls, can be forced to go to human beings or to other odious activities on the dark canvas. There is no mechanism to verify the condition of the adopted child, which could be exposed to all kinds of damage,” said Rashida Qureshi, an expert in gender and a coordinate of children Advocacy Network Pakistan.
In January 2023, an organ trafficking gang was discovered in Rawalpindi after a 14 -year -old boy from Lahore was found with his kidney kidnapped in an underground laboratory. In addition, in accordance with the statistics obtained from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), an increase of 336% has been reported in the event of cyber-pornography in the last six years in Punjab, the largest province in the country.
Iftikhar Mubarak, responsible for the research of justice, revealed that although article 28 of the 2004 law on children of Punjab and negligence, played an important role in the care, protection and rehabilitation of poor and neglected children, the surveillance system was still ineffective.
“A social worker or a social worker must be appointed to monitor each adopted child while tutors should be required to present the child before the court from time to time. Submit periodic relationships on the well-being of the child, in particular in the event that the child was taken abroad.
On the other hand, Sarah Ahmed, president of the Child Protection Office and head of the provincial parliamentary committee for childhood rights, said the child protection court had provided temporary custody of abandoned children.
“The couple adopting the child is obliged to appear with the child on the date fixed by the court. They are asked for the child’s health and care. If the child is able to say, then the information is removed from them separately and a report is compiled and placed in the child’s guard file. The families of children taken abroad are contacted through video calls and certificates linked to their education and their health are examined.” asserted Ahmed.
To date, no case has been highlighted when a child given in police custody is not taken care of and the guard had to be revoked, “said Ahmed who revealed that 230 abandoned children had been adopted by childless couples in the last five years, including 50 children have been adopted by Pakistani families living abroad,” she added.
