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Many Pakistanis celebrated Independence Day the old-fashioned way on Friday — flags, songs and dressing up in green and white — but the country’s first Miss Universe, Erica Robin, used the occasion to deliver a very important message on child safety to her fellow Pakistanis.

In a reel posted to her Instagram account, Robin said she loved her country, but that didn’t mean she had to love its system.

“And while today is a day of celebration, with the heartbreaking news we’re seeing about children being sexually harassed and abused, I want to use this moment to share something really, really important,” she said.

The model had three pieces of advice for any parent to try and protect their kids from being sexually abused.

The first was to not trust someone with their child just because they’re family. She asked parents to keep track of who has access to their children, boys and girls alike.

The second piece of advice was to teach kids about “body boundaries” and where it was okay for other people to touch them. “Teach them that they have the right to say no, even to an adult and never force them to hug, kiss, [sit with], or show affection to anyone.”

The last point, which Robin said was the most important, was to create a safe space for children to talk about these things and form a parent-child relationship where they can talk to you if they feel uncomfortable.

She told parents not to overlook any behavioural changes in their children, especially if they “see them being uncomfortable or unsafe around someone”.

The model said parents should implement these steps and tell others so that we can all move towards making “a country where every child feels safe, free, heard and protected”.

Robin’s message comes during a year marred by horrific incidents of violence and abuse against children in Pakistan. The first half of the year saw over 1,900 cases of child abuse reported in the country.

On August 4, police in Karachi registered a complaint from the father of a young girl who went out to buy something with a relative and returned unconscious, having been raped. The relative — a 17-year-old boy — was arrested the next day.

On June 23, two more gruesome cases shook the country. One was from Karachi, where the body of a three-year-old girl was found at her parents’ doorstep after she was violently raped, according to the police.

The other case was from Sargodha, where a seven-year-old girl was found dead, with signs of struggle on her body. Police said her killers likely attempted to rape her and four suspects were arrested.