Over the recent years, the number of news channels has exponentially increased in Pakistan. One would naturally expect with such growing numbers the news coverage would get better and wider, however, this doesn't seem to be the case. News channels often broadcast the same content at the same time. Basically, whatever already has the attention of the public is broadcasted instead of broadcasting issues or news that needs attention to be brought to.
Unfortunately, the grave issue of sexual harassment, child abuse, and rape is a prevalent issue in Pakistan. Sahil.org gives us some numbers regarding child abuse cases, stating that there were 2676 cases in Punjab, 987 in Sindh, 156 in Islamabad, and 141 cases in KPK. considering the unfortunate fact that the numbers are big, only a few cases have been able to get the attention of the media. The fact that fewer cases are known to people makes the majority of the population unaware of how grave of an issue it actually is.
There have been many instances where the media has played its part in helping get suo motos from the apex courts, etc., and getting authorities to make the relevant measures.
Airing news about specific incidents, and going into detail is usually not the right way to go about these things, what the media could be helpful with is creating more awareness, by perhaps sharing more numbers, bringing experts to educate the public, and even by running campaigns.
It’s heart-wrenching to see the escalation of such hideous crimes in Pakistan, and the issue gets more disastrous when it’s pushed under the mat out of public fear and stigmatisation. The media, as well as the educational institutions have a moral obligation to educate the masses, as many of the victims can’t even figure out how they’re being abused, or some are too young to speak even.
It is pretty unfortunate to witness such a vast number of sexual harassment, child abuse, and rape cases in Pakistan. Despite the laws and policies, such incidents have been prevalent. The media is of prime importance regarding the actual representation of such issues at the national level. Our media has failed to provide facts and figures to the public because it has been more involved in other issues already being covered by several other media channels. The main issue in our mainstream media is that their primary goal has transitioned from representing the issues of the public to getting more attention and earning profit by competing with already established media channels. The race of competition among the media channels has…
Of course it is the responsibility of the media to air such incidents and create awareness about it. I also want to add here that our digital media is also lacking in creating awareness. Most of the children who are the victim of sexual abuse don't even know what is happening to them. So, they are unable to raise their voices against the abuse. There must be specific shows for children and also for adults to create awareness about abuse. Our education system also lacks this. Such things about good touch and bad touch and other self awareness things should be taught to the children if we want to keep our children safe and sound.