On June 21, a minor girl with disabilities was sexually assaulted by a man in Okara. The mother of the victim, while complaining to the Pakistan’s Citizen Portal about the incident of her daughter, also condemned the immorality of corrupt officials. She told the Prime Minister that the investigation officer who was probing the matter attempted to take bribe from her. The PM ordered the concerned authorities to take immediate action against the criminals and asked the DPO of Okara police to resolve the matter of bribe legally. As a result, the DPO dismissed the corrupt investigation officer.
Observers say that although the PM ensured a severe response for the culprits, yet the case underlines a multipronged disregard for humanity. Activists reiterate that the crime reported is not only an attack on the safety of women but is also a gory violation of human rights. They maintain that the country does not provide separate facilities to the differently-abled children, nor does it make relevant policies in this regard.
Many special children have been observed to suffer in silence, as their parents and guardians look after them by using whatever they have at their disposal with a lack of government support and effort.
As per the 2017 census, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported one million people in Pakistan that suffer from different kinds of disability. Unluckily, the differently-abled people face a lot of hurdles to be able to live a normal life like others.
Observers say there is a pressing need of creating a healthy and safe environment for the differently-abled children, especially girls, as they are unable to protect themselves. Pakistan is a signatory of various international conventions that stress upon the state to strictly follow them and recognize a separate status for such people.
A person with special needs said, “I face difficulties in accessing health services as well as rehabilitation and welfare services. There are no ramps in public buildings to facilitate us as most of the places are completely inaccessible for us.”
According to World Health Organization (WHO), children with disabilities are four times more vulnerable to abuse than non-disabled children. In day-to-day matters, many people when dealing with them, look at them with pity and treat them inhumanly that makes them more depressed. Some even inflict violence upon them taking advantage of their inability to respond and being naïve. Observers say that schoolteachers and even the school bus conductors do not treat them fairly and subject them to strict harangues that make them more scared and deprive them of the confidence to move in the society.
In Pakistan, persons with disabilities (PWD) are not given the due rights owing to the fact that there is no proper classified data present with the government. Experts say that without a full-scale investigation, no one can gauge the severity of situation that besets this community. Usually, the disabled person especially women, children and minorities need vast attention as their grievances go unheard due to their marginalized status in the society. Last year, the government introduced a stipend for the families of the disabled people to provide them financial stability.
The Ministry of Human Rights is also engaged to protect this segment and submitted the bill “The ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2020” that was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan. The Act was lauded on all platforms and considered as a remarkable achievement for the Human Rights Ministry. It aims to help the disabled persons to unleash their potential by according to them the basic services with much more ease. Activists say the inclusion of such people in society will enable them to take respite from the continuous struggle in which they have been living for decades.
Observers say there is a pressing need of creating a healthy and safe environment for the differently-abled children, especially girls, as they are unable to protect themselves. Pakistan is a signatory of various international conventions that stress upon the state to strictly follow them and recognize a separate status for such people. For instance, Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which recognizes the rights of children with disabilities. The clauses of the convention also include girls in the category of children.
“Pakistani law requires that 2 percent of people employed by an establishment be ‘disabled persons’” noted Saroop Ijaz, the Senior Counsel, Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.
“In the absence of reliable data, estimates of the number of people living with disabilities in Pakistan wildly vary from 3.3 million to 27 million. Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2011.”
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs at United Nations also lays focus on ensuring equal rights to disabled children. The Article 7 explicitly states that the children with disabilities will fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms on equal basis with other children. Also, they hold the right to express their views freely on all matters affecting them, and their views should be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity on equal basis with other children. It expects the states to enable the implementation of these clauses and bring the disabled children at par with the normal ones.
“Persons with disabilities need encouragement and support to enable them to be viable and productive part of society,” said National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser. “Concentrating on health and education of special per-sons would change the fate of the nation,” he added.
Observers maintain that state protection is the fundamental right of every citizen. It is the responsibility of the state to create equal opportunities and provide safe routes of growth to all its nationals on equal footing without any sort of discrimination. Therefore, experts say, Pakistan being a democratic country, must work towards ensuring the rights of its people that are enshrined in the constitution and strive to strengthen the socio-economic development especially of the disadvantaged population whose grievances often remain unnoticed.
