Dawn Images

More then 90% Pakistanis have been abused at the age of 6 to 20

Hats-off to these women in helping raise awareness of child sexual abuse. Parents might wake up to the reality of child sexual abuse and take steps to take care of their little ones. Awareness is half the solution.

@WM you one of em?

Please make it easier for victims to seek help in such cases. The fear created by the criminals forces to keep silent but the scars remain for life. Some awareness program is needed to check the menace

Most of these ladies have been abused by their relative or their maulvi. So is there any place to hide.

Brave women. Agreed, shame is NOT yours.

We do not speak the truth. Therefore there is no hope for reform. Until we are free in mind and spirit to confront the abusers there will not be any change. I salute these brave people. The abuse in Islamic countries is very high indeed.

VERY BOLD. I respectfully salute these Devis (goddesses) or their courage.

It’s rampant, me too

I am a man and I was sexually harassed back when I was a kid.

@WM not that many, but about 15-20%

Respect to all these brave women coming forward to prevent future children from being abused , is commandable. High time , media , schools, parents educate them selves ,and learn the skills to prevent the abuse,by being proactive, Pakistani needs to stop being a reactionist ! learn the safety skills, above all shame is on the abusers! People should form pressure groups to make sure the abusers are punished !

I have said it before and i will say it now. As a woman in Pakistan, I have fallen victim to physical abuse as a child and as an adult. All females of my acquaintance have been through the same thing. It still makes us feel uncomfortable in our own skin and altered our lives in different ways. We all have nightmares about those times when someone we knew or a stranger crossed the line and hurt us beyond recover.

Child abuse is rampant in pakistan. People need to hang the abusers.

Really sorry to learn this. Hope they still catch the perpetrators.

While it is good to hear celebs sharing their childhood experiences relating to abuse, but why only showbiz celebs are bold enough and not people from other walks of life i.e. bureaucrats, politicians, professionals, people from civil society, world of sports etc. We should walk clear of giving an impression that only showbiz personalities have had such experiences.

Now it's high time to teach our children what must to tell .though it will create fear in them for all but what to do else?

The lesson is that abuse begets abuse. This part is coomon across society. The sexual predators were frequently abused themselves and no one minded or came to their aid. Whether the abuse is physical violence, sexual or emotional abuse or a combination of elements, the abused become abusers. Ours is an abusive society and this may be what leads to such close ties between people as they come together to protect themselves from what are frequently themselves. The question is how do we stop it?

:( I have been sexually abused when I Was a kid as a boy I didn't know what it was and why this is happening to me , my friend father was very nice but then what happened to him ? going into college I was stuck in board office and a police officers who was a guard that time in the year 1998 tried to abuse me but I managed to come out unharmed by just talking and told him my uncle is SP in policy and he is the one who caught criminals who broke into Zaheer Abaas Cricketers house . That police officer then got off from me and I ran away but all this traumatise me and I felt like as if I am guilty to be in these places and all these years I have kept all that inside me and Hatts of to these women's that I got the courage to speak about it and I writing this . I know this might have been a very normal thing but for me it took me 25 years to get it out of my chest . I can breath now

This problem is quite vast but our society want to brush it under the carpet and live in denial! We will never begin to eradicate it unless the society acknowledge it that it exists, talk about it and condemn it publically. It is scourge even in the developed countries but they are willing to tackle it by enacting laws and punish those abuse the under age,

@shakeel Mahota : Because they have an effective platform due to their status. Nobody is suggesting only they have been though such experiences. It simply reinforces the fact that an ordinary person has got no voice in a society where it’s all about stigma and ‘honour’!

Agreed shame is not theirs, but how these confessions can help curb these instances.

Its not only womenfolk who are subjected to such kind of assaults,small toddlers are victims too.

Hats off to these brave women who have shared their anguish n sufferings for da restoration of our morally decaying society

Hats off to these brave women to speak about their horrible experiences of their childhood. I hope it will encourage other abused women to come forward and shame the abusers!

@Papa Johns you think sexual abuse is a joke ! ?