There is no denying that Bangladesh has made significant strides in the fields of health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection. But when it comes to violence against children, even a cursory scan of the daily newspapers tells the story that progress remains disturbingly limited.
Reportedly, in Bangladesh nearly 2 billion children face different forms of violence every year. In the past five years, a total of 1,122 children were murdered in the country. There also occurred over four thousand unnatural deaths to children since 2015 till date.
Weak, underfunded and understaffed child protection systems are not ready to deal with the major forms of violence at present, and they seem largely unprepared to address the challenges of the future. Asia faces a higher-than-average probability of being affected by climate change and natural disasters. Migration of families and children not only impacts young people’s lives, education, and employability, but also increases the risk of abuse and exploitation.
As long as we do not achieve a mind-set change
by the caregivers, even the best laws and
policies will not be sufficient to protect children
From school assemblies to parliaments, we often hear that “children are the torch bearers of our future”. But are we being able to save these innocent lives from predators? When we think about the mischief of our society, violence against children appears as an inevitable issue. A growing number of such heinous crimes not only reveal our sheer negligence to address a savage practice but also indicate our failure to protect our children from the evils of our society.
When the rule of law is inadequate, perpetrators remain unaffected, especially when the authorities concerned respond in a way that does not protect the underprivileged victims. Stricter laws and more vigorous enforcement might help, but they are not enough. It is time for the government to adopt tough legal measures to prosecute child abuse cases so that we are able to protect our future generations.
This is only part of the solution - we also need to address social norms and practices, raising awareness on the detrimental physical and psychological effects of violence against children. In Bangladesh, for example, a survey found that over 50 percent of parents supports corporal punishment. As long as we do not achieve a mind-set change by the caregivers, even the best laws and policies will not be sufficient to protect children.