It is extremely concerning to learn that, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic that has forced most of the world to employ lockdowns, there has been an alarming rise in the rate of child abuse here in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) published findings that, in the first six months of the year, at least 1,664 children faced abuse of some sort in the country.
However, numbers in Bangladesh almost never tell the full story. Especially during a lockdown period, along with the country’s propensity to always under-report cases of abuse, the actual numbers are most likely to be far higher.
There can be no argument to the fact that abusing a child is amongst the most heinous actions any person could commit, and it is a shame that, far from being able to protect our children, the problem has only exacerbated during the pandemic.
Fixing this problem is no easy matter; it is a deep-rooted issue, and begins, first of all, with our country’s culture of silence regarding the issue of child abuse. We must be able to speak about it openly, as silence does nothing but embolden the abusers.
Our law enforcement also requires a comprehensive reform, requiring the proper training on understanding such sensitive cases. The abusers too, must always be punished to the fullest extent of the law, something that unfortunately does not happen in Bangladesh.
It is about time child abusers do not feel that they can get away with their heinous crimes and about time that the entire country, collectively, realizes that one child abused is one child too many.
