Sexual violence against children including rape witnessed an alarming rise in the first nine months of the calendar year, according to a report of a child rights body.
The report, prepared by the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF), revealed that the abuse and exploitation on children increased by around 52 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2018.
Among them, child rape increased by 58 per cent in January to September 2019, the report said.
The report was disclosed at a press conference titled 'Child rights and current situation' at the National Press Club in the capital, organised jointly by the Action for Social Development (ASD) and the BSAF.
The ASD Executive Director Jamil H Chowdhury and the BSAF Director Abdus Shahid Mahmood, among others, spoke at the function.
Out of 3,428 victims, some 1,092 have fallen victims to sexual abuse and exploitation in January to September 2019. Out of 3,514 victims, some 716 fell victims to sexual abuse and exploitation in the same period in 2018.
The BSAF prepared the statistics after monitoring 15 national daily newspapers that covered news on child rights violation, rape, sexual assault, and harassment.
The number of rape victims stood at 786 in January to September this year while it was 494 at the same period of the last year, the study further disclosed.
The report also added that the lengthy judicial proceedings, loopholes of laws, absence of provision of capital punishment in the existing laws, cultural impunity and use of muscle power were some factors for such drastic increase in child rights violation.
Expressing concern over the vulnerable situation on children's security, ASD Executive Director Jamil H Chowdhury said the growing violence on children may impede the government's achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Jamil stressed the government's role to end all sorts of violence on children and protect them from the social menace.
The government's target to eliminate hazardous child labour by 2021 seems little fruitful as huge number of children are still engaged in such work, he said.
The BSAF Director Abdus Shahid Mahmood said a good number of children are now at stake as the violence like rape is increasing exponentially.
The concerted efforts along with the government's role are a must to save the children from being victims of abuse and exploitation, he said.
The allocation of budget for deprived and downtrodden children is enough but it needs to be used properly for them, Mr Mahmood also said.
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