Brock University professor returns to classroom following sexual harassment investigation
Laura Clementson · CBC News 
Brock University says a professor who was found to have sexually harassed one of his students in 2014 will be back in the classroom next week. (CBC News)
St Catherines, Ontario: Brock University says a professor disciplined by the university following a sexual harassment investigation is returning to the classroom next week.
Professor David Schimmelpenninck (a previous story adds 'van der Oye', to his name) is scheduled to teach a non-compulsory second-year course after an almost three-year absence from the classroom. The absence was a result of discipline following an investigation into sexual harassment, the university has confirmed to CBC News.
The university in St. Catharines, Ont., says the absence also relates to health issues and accrued academic leave.
The return comes after a Dec. 14 decision from an arbitrator who concluded that Schimmelpenninck should be permitted to return to the classroom, "pursuant to the university's collective agreement with its faculty association," the university's administration said in a statement emailed to CBC Jan. 3.
However, it says a set of conditions have been put in place for Schimmelpenninck's return to teaching.
"He agreed to these conditions and has undertaken steps to meet them, including completing coaching for respectful workplace practices," the email said.
Brock hasn't elaborated further on the conditions.
The statement says Schimmelpenninck returned to campus in the summer of 2018 but was not scheduled to teach in the fall term. However, the arbitrator has since confirmed his right to do so.
Schimmelpenninck declined to comment Thursday, and directed inquiries to the university's media relations office.
'Unwelcome sexual advance'
The sexual harassment finding dates back to October 2014, when Schimmelpenninck met his students at the local campus bar after his class for drinks.
After the bar closed, he invited a female student and another male student back to his office for more alcohol.
According to the investigation, the male student eventually went home, leaving the female student alone with the professor.
"It was after my friend left that he shut the door and came and sat next to me and that's when the incident occurred," the woman told CBC News in 2016.
The university conducted an investigation into the matter and hired a lawyer.
The lawyer's investigation found that the incident "involved an unwelcome sexual advance, inappropriate and unwelcome physical touching, comments of a sexual nature, [and] a provocative comment attempting to arrange ongoing intimacy."
The university received backlash after a 2016 CBC News investigation revealed that Brock had warned a former student to keep quiet about the internal investigation that determined her professor gave her alcohol and tried to force himself on her sexually. See link above.
"Brock University appreciates that the 2016 incident was a difficult chapter for the university community. In the past three years, Brock has taken significant steps to develop its policies, procedures and resources to more effectively address human rights issues and to better address the well-being of everyone on campus," the statement said.
It says Brock has taken a number of steps to protect members of its community.
"The university continuously exercises improvements and best practices to address concerns related to sexual assault and harassment, and to ensure a safe environment for the Brock community."
Chinese 'Jack the Ripper' executed for rape, murder of 11
Caution: Gruesome details follow
By Nicholas Sakelaris
Gao Chengyong, a modern-day "Jack the Ripper," was executed in China Thursday because of the way he brutally raped and murdered his victims. Photo by Wu Hong/EPA-EFE
UPI -- A man described as a modern day "Jack the Ripper" was executed in China Thursday after being convicted of raping and murdering 10 women and 1 girl.
Gao Chengyong, 54, was compared to the famous London-area killer because he cut victims' throats before mutilating their bodies. Some of Gao's victims had their reproductive organs cut out. Jack the Ripper did that to at least three victims.
Gao would target women who wore red and follow them home from 1988 to 2002. His wave of terror went from the Gansu province to Inner Mongolia. His youngest victim was eight years old.
He eluded police for 28 years. Finally, Gao's uncle was arrested on a separate minor crime that required a DNA test. Police found it closely matched the profile of the murder suspect so they covertly gathered Gao's DNA and found it was a 100-percent match.
Police arrested the "reclusive and unsociable, but patient" Gao in 2016.
He was sentenced to death in March and on Thursday China announced that it had been carried out.
The court said on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, that "to satisfy his perverted desire to dishonor and sully corpses, many of his female victims' corpses were damaged and violated."
"The motives of the defendant's crimes were despicable, his methods extremely cruel, the nature of the acts vile and the details of the crimes serious," the court said.
German cardinal angers Twitter by blaming homosexuality for sexual abuse in Catholic Church
FILE PHOTO. © Reuters
It is not the Catholic Church that should be blamed for child sex abuse by priests but modern public morals and the spread of homosexuality, one of the top Catholic prelates alleged, sparking outrage on social media.
Sex abuse in the Catholic Church has recently become a burning issue, casting a shadow on the Church’s reputation in light of numerous scandals regarding harassment and rape. However, Cardinal Walter Brandmueller believes the public outrage over the issue is “quite hypocritical” as the abuse is not some institutional problem but a mere indication of a malady that has gripped modern society as a whole.
“What has happened in the Church in terms of abuse is nothing short of what has been happening to the society as a whole,” Brandmueller told German dpa news agency. He then designated growing sexualization as the root cause of the problem and said that the real scandal consists in the fact that the Church failed to distinguish itself from the rest of society.
Doubling down, the cleric said: “It would be no less divorced from reality to forget or even to conceal that 80 percent of abuse cases within the Church ranks affected male youths and not children.”
He also alleged that it is “statistically proven” that there is a “link” between homosexuality and abuse while providing no specific data on the issue.
His words, however, did not sit well with many people on social media, as his interview provoked a wave of angry comments on Twitter. Some, including regional MP Christian Flisek, said the prelate must be living “in his own world” or in a “bubble” to say something like that.
Others fired back at Brandmueller, saying the “relativization” of sex abuse in the Catholic Church is “just completely wrong,” and blaming the problem on homosexuality is “tasteless.” Terms like “unappealing” and “misguided” were also used in the comments.
Some also accused Brandmueller of attempting to downplay the issue of abuse and shift the focus away from the Catholic Church in general. “What a shameful way for the Catholic Church to relativize guilt and defame homosexuals. Very poor!” Ulf Poschardt, a journalist at Die Welt, tweeted.
The cardinal’s comments came as the Catholic Church still struggles to combat sex abuse in its ranks. Last December, Pope Francis directly called on abusive priests to turn themselves in, adding that they should prepare for “divine justice.”
In 2018, the Catholic Church was plagued by various scandals, from the US to Europe.
In Germany, a leaked study revealed that more than 3,600 people were abused by Catholic clergy over more than 50 years. The explosive report also blamed practices such as celibacy or the far-reaching clerical power of individual clergymen for exacerbating the problem.
Also: Postwar orphans were sex abuse victims of German clergy, possible paedophile ring (See 3rd story on link).
What do you think? Is the Cardinal right? Can the Catholic Church blame homosexuality when they intentionally opened the seminaries to homosexuals? There is, of course, a problem with child sex abuse in the Protestant church, but it is minuscule in comparison and does not reflect the great predominance of male victims.
Is the problem in the Catholic Church more endemic? My suspicion is that it has more to do with a very weak relationship between many priests, and even some bishops, with Jesus Christ. This relationship should be the basis of a priest's progression in the church, but it appears that it is not. It appears that a person can progress in the church without ever even knowing Christ personally.
Ottawa man faces child porn charges after returning from Nepalese orphanage
Police arrested a 62-year-old man on child pornography charges Friday, weeks after he was stopped by border officers as he returned to Canada following a volunteer mission to an orphanage in Nepal.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected to be laid.
Officers with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) first began investigating when the man was returning to Canada from Nepal in mid-December, Ottawa police said in a news release.
Child exploitation unit investigates
Ottawa police said its child exploitation unit identified five Nepalese male victims under the age of 16 in what it described as child pornography.
Police said McCarthy was arrested at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Friday and escorted off a plane destined for Panama City.
During a search of the man's home, police seized additional electronic devices.
McCarthy appeared in court in Ottawa Saturday morning. Outside the courthouse, his lawyer, Robert Carew, said he was confident his client was innocent.
McCarthy is expected to appear in court Tuesday for a bail hearing.
Donor to Child Haven
CBC News has confirmed McCarthy worked with at least one non-profit organization, while also donating to another.
In a statement, Care Canada, which describes itself as an "international humanitarian organization" confirmed McCarthy had worked with them from 1992 until 1999.
"We certainly never saw any signs or indication that he was that type of person and I hope he isn't. I hope it's a false allegation," she said.
She said he asked to visit the home a few years ago while he was in the country on business and has been there a few times since then, most recently in November.
It is not yet clear if the charges are connected to his visits to the homes run by Child Haven.
She described McCarthy as a kind, friendly person, who was well liked by the home's staff and children and would often be seen playing games with the children, including ping pong.
The home has around 80 children and youth between the ages of five and 25, with those over the age of 18 moving out to attend college.
Cappuccino said staff in the orphanage have been instructed to talk to any children who spent time with McCarthy to see if anything inappropriate happened. She said counselling and other supports would be offered.
"At this point, we're just doing things very carefully and very confidentially to protect the privacy of our children and young people," she said. She said she felt "sick to her stomach" at the allegations and staff in Nepal were shocked to hear of them.
Hong Kong Ikea treats visitors to sudden porn
FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Aleksandr Schemlyaev
Ikea is still investigating how a big-screen TV ended up playing a film of a man pleasuring himself to an audience of shoppers in the Causeway Bay store. Chances are, someone's going to get fired.
Someone ought to get more than fired! Someone ought to get fined and jailed. Were there children present? Were they exposed to this?
This report from RT seems to think this is all quite funny, but it can be highly traumatic to a child or an abused woman. But then, people at RT think everyone watches porn.
A quick-thinking staffer thought to cover the offending half of the screen by taping a large piece of paper over it, and eventually someone thought to unplug the TV. No word on how many shoppers got distracted from their mission of acquiring generic-looking, difficult-to-assemble but undeniably budget-friendly Swedish furniture in the mean time. - Ouch!
An Ikea spokesperson apologized for the impromptu film screening and said an investigation is underway.
Transgender prisoner locked up with Britain's most dangerous men in 'Monster Mansion' after molesting female inmates
Begs friends for £25k for gender reassignment
so she can return to a women's jail
By LEIGH MCMANUS FOR MAILONLINEA violent transgender prisoner has sent letters begging friends to fund an expensive gender reassignment surgery so she can return to a female jail.
Karen White, previously known as David Thompson, is currently locked up in HMP Wakefield alongside some of Britain's worst criminals, including Soham killer Ian Huntley.She was sent to nearby New Hall prison for attacking a male neighbour with a steak knife claiming that he sexually assaulted her, when her dark past came to light.
White, still legally a man, was jailed for life in October for rape, sexual assault and wounding and sexually assaulted two vulnerable female inmates at New Hall where she wound up as a result of the attack on the 66-year-old neighbour.
In letters to friends from her cell in Wakefield and obtained by The Mirror, White said she is 'longing for the day the system sends me - more like forced to send me - to a female prison again.'
White said she is worried about being too old for NHS treatment by the time she is released, so needs the private treatment so her life can be 'complete.'
Upon being sentenced for her sexual assaults in New Hall, judge Christopher Batty called White a 'highly manipulative predator'
Upon being sentenced for her sexual assaults in New Hall, judge Christopher Batty called White a 'highly manipulative predator' who used her 'female persona' to get close to her victims.
How many transgender prisoners are there in England and Wales?
The latest figures showed there were 125 transgender prisoners in England and Wales
up to the end of March 2017, an increase from 70 a year earlier.
About 25 are thought to be in women's jails.
At least 34 male-born inmates are living as women in four specialist sex offender jails for men,
according to Freedom of Information Act requests.
But prison governors say many have sought to be transferred to women's jails.
Also a child predator
White was also convicted in 2001 for two offences of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child of primary school age, and jailed for 18 months.
In the letters, White also spoke of the sheer joy of coming out as a woman in 2011. 'I remember feeling as if I was on cloud 9, I felt brilliant and nothing could [touch] me, I looked good.' She added that her surroundings don't make her 'feel good', nor does dressing as a man.
White also said that she gets labelled a 'freak' and a 'weirdo' by other prisoners when she attempts to dress as a woman. White, who must serve at least nine years, said that having a wig and some Avon makeup would make her feel better and that she hopes to be a 'full woman' by the time she is released.
She also complained that the prison has 'taken away part of her identity' by not allowing her to wear padded bras, which are a safety risk.
She said she'd be 'forever in the debt' of her friends if they funded the £25,000 operation.
Serious sex offenders filling Victorian jails
TESSA AKERMAN The Australian
One in five Victorians serving a custodial prison sentence are serious sex offenders, following a 45 per cent jump in the number of recorded sexual offences over the past five years.
The first annual report of the newly formed Post Sentencing Authority, released last month, shows 1037 serious sex offenders were serving custodial sentences on June 30, 2018, one-fifth of the 4957 sentenced jail population.
Victoria’s Corrections Minister, Ben Carroll: “Victoria has the country’s most rigorous system for managing serious violent and sex offenders.” Picture: Kylie Else
Serious sex offences range from sexual assault, child sexual abuse, incest, grooming a minor for sexual conduct and the production, distribution and possession of child pornography.
Victoria’s Corrections Minister, Ben Carroll, said the government had toughened laws to keep serious sex offenders and serious violent offenders in detention or under strict supervision even after prison sentences had ended: “Victoria has the country’s most rigorous system for managing serious violent and sex offenders.”
Opposition justice spokesman David Southwick slammed the government for the high number of serious sex offenders: “There is clearly something very wrong in Victoria when one in five serving a custodial sentence is a sex offender. Sex offences and violent crimes continue to spiral out of control under (Premier) Daniel Andrews and all he’s offering is more of the same.
“What we need are smart and strategic policies that will prevent as many of these crimes as possible from occurring, so Victorians feel safe.”
Well, that would be nice, but meanwhile you should be looking at why all the other states in Australia have a lesser population of paedophiles in their prisons. I seriously doubt that there are more children in Victoria being sexually abused than in the rest of the country.
According to the Crimes Statistics Agency, recorded sexual offences increased by 45 per cent over the past five years, with 14,192 offences in the year ending September 2018 compared with 9732 recorded sexual offences in 2013.
The PSA recorded 138 serious sex offenders were on supervision orders, detention orders or interim supervision orders on June 30. Seventy-eight offenders were required to live at a residential facility such as Corella Place in Ararat and 93 offenders were subject to electronic monitoring.
The PSA also recorded 24 offenders on supervision orders who were convicted of a serious sex offence, a violent offence or for breaching the conditions of their supervision or interim supervision order. The authority issued seven formal warnings to offenders for reported incidents of noncompliance.
The post-sentence scheme was expanded in September to include serious violent offenders following the Harper review, which examined management of dangerous sex offenders.
The review was launched in the wake of the 2015 murder of teenager Masa Vukotic, killed by Sean Price. Price was on bail at the time and under a 10-year supervision order pursuant to the Serious Sexual Offenders legislation. He had previously spent time at Corella Place, known as the Village of the Damned.
The government opened a new facility in Ararat in October to house serious sexual offenders and serious violent offenders.
Dozens of children under 10 accused of rape
in past six years in Wales
They start young in Wales
By Tom Davidson MailOnline Dozens of children under 10 have been accused of rape over the past six years in Wales.
The cases against 38 children were dropped as the age of criminal responsibility is 10.
In the same six-year period there were 106 allegations of sexual assault made against children under 10, a Freedom of Information request to the four police forces in Wales has revealed.
The number of allegations against under 10s was highest in the North Wales Police area, with 20 of rape and 33 of sexual assault.
They increased from two reports of sexual assault in 2013 to 23 in 2016 then dropped. However the full data from 2018 has not been released.
Data from Dyfed-Powys Police, who cover mid-Wales showed there were six allegations of rape and 61 of sexual assault against people too young to be prosecuted, and in Gwent there were 12 of rape and 12 of sexual assault.
In South Wales, no offences were recorded - but the force said the data is not routinely collated and while searches by its analysts found no results, it could not be sure this was accurate.
It can be darn sure that it is not!
A spokesman NSPCC Cymru said the charity was aware sexual crimes being committed by children were happening "far too frequently".
"There is something particularly shocking and disturbing about a child being sexually abused by another young person," he said.
"Unfortunately, we know that it is happening far too frequently with our Childline service providing thousands of counselling sessions a year to children to whom this has happened.
"Both victim and perpetrator are at risk of suffering lasting damage as a result of this abuse.
"Tackling it demands that all children are introduced to concepts such as boundaries and consent from primary school onwards so they understand what sexual abuse is and know how to keep themselves safe."
Police said all reports of this nature were thoroughly investigated.
Dyfed-Powys told the BBC that there was no standardised way of collecting the data so it is difficult to compare it with other forces.
Call to ban paedophiles from travel, after prosecutors drop sex tourism, child abuse charge against convicted NZ sex offender
Benn BathgateA predator accused of sex offending against a child in Fiji was arrested and charged back home in NZ – but authorities have now dropped the case.
But because he was likely to be convicted over those New Zealand offences, prosecutors decided it wasn't worth proceeding with the Fiji charge, laid under an unusual law amendment.
Smale, 48, is not the first to escape conviction under the law empowering the courts to punish so-called "sex tourists" who abuse children overseas. It's a name that belies the true horror of the crime, where men travel overseas, often to poor developing countries, to sexually abuse children.
A Stuff investigation shows that in 23 years, just three men have been convicted under the 1995 amendment to the Crimes Act; another 15 have been acquitted or had their charges dropped. Sean Smale is the 16th.
An allegation Sean Smale sexually abused a Fiji child was not put before the jury that convicted him.
Now, there are calls to ban paedophiles from overseas travel.
Ian McInnes, chief executive of aid organisation Tearfund, said authorities had no idea on how many New Zealand citizens travelled overseas to commit sex abuse crimes. New Zealand should follow Australia's lead by stopping those on the Child Sex Offender Register at the border, he argued.
Fiji Islands
Man jailed 6 months for sexually assaulting
sleeping Prince Edward Island woman
'An unconscious person cannot consent,' says Crown prosecutor
Brian Higgins · CBC News
A man who sexually assaulted a woman while she was asleep in her bed has been sentenced to six months in jail.
"A sleeping person cannot give consent," Crown prosecutor Gerald Quinn told court Monday. "There is no doubt Mr. Lunn committed sexual assault and it must be denounced and he must face justice."
According to an agreed statement of facts read by Quinn, Lunn and his victim knew each other. On the night in question, Lunn took a taxi to the woman's home around 6 a.m.
He found her asleep and got into the bed with her. Upon Lunn initiating sexual intercourse, the woman woke up and told him to stop. He did so, according to the agreed facts. An argument ensued. The woman told Lunn to leave and he did.
Justice Terri MacPherson sentenced Lunn to probation for three years after his six-month jail term and she ordered him to undergo counselling as directed by probation officers.
You had no right to do what you did.
- Justice Terri MacPherson
"You had no right to do what you did," MacPherson told Lunn as she handed down the sentence. "You need to understand how you got to where you are today, and make the necessary changes."
Lunn was also charged with committing an indictable offence during a break and enter. He was found not guilty of that charge.
Parole for previous conviction revoked
Lunn has remained in custody since Aug. 9 when he voluntarily surrendered to RCMP upon learning police were looking for him.
He was on parole at the time, having been convicted in 2017 of dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced to 2 years for that conviction.
Lunn's parole on that conviction was revoked. That sentence now ends on Feb. 22, 2019. His six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting the woman will begin on that day.
Six months in jail is the mandatory minimum for sexual assault.
And, of course, Canadian judges will give minimum sentences every chance they get!
Unfair stereotypes of domestic assault victims led to conviction for B.C. woman, court rules
Faye-Ann Muriel Thompson was found guilty in break-in; she says she was fleeing a violent boyfriend
Bethany Lindsay · CBC News ·
Faye-Ann Muriel Thompson says she was an unwitting accomplice in a break-in while searching for help after her boyfriend assaulted her. (Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock)
Faye-Ann Muriel Thompson maintains that a series of unhappy coincidences caused her to be an unwitting accomplice in a 2014 break-in.
She says she'd been abandoned by a violent boyfriend who'd just beaten her bloody, when she happened upon a home in a remote area of the B.C. park. She asked the man standing outside for a ride and he said he'd be happy to help — but he'd accidentally locked his keys inside the house and needed her help getting them back.
And that's how Thompson's fingerprints ended up inside a second-floor window of the house, she told a provincial court judge. She'd assumed the man owned the property and the car in the driveway, not that he was a burglar.
The judge found that explanation implausible, in part because Thompson hadn't called police after the alleged assault. Thompson was found guilty in 2017 of breaking and entering.
But this week, justices at the B.C. Court of Appeal tossed out that conviction and ordered a new trial for Thompson, writing that the lower court judge had based her findings "on impermissible stereotyping about how domestic assault victims typically react."
New evidence key in charging former B.C. Lions player with 9-year-old cold case murder
In a 2-1 decision, Appeal Court Justice Susan Griffin said it was "erroneous reasoning" to assume that a victim of domestic assault would call police.
"The judge did not address the possibility, founded on Ms. Thompson's evidence, that the failure to call the police was because Ms. Thompson was afraid of her boyfriend and still in a relationship with him, and did not want to risk his further anger," Griffin wrote.
Justice David Frankel concurred with Griffin's reasons, but Justice Daphne Smith dissented, saying she would have dismissed the appeal.
'She was hurt, bleeding from her scrapes and scratches'
During Thompson's trial, she testified that she and her boyfriend were living in Mission and working at Manning Park Resort on the day of the break-in in early August 2014. They were touring through the park when they got into a "huge fight" while driving along a logging road, she said.
"During the fight, her boyfriend dragged her out of the vehicle by the hair causing some of her hair to fall out, punched her in the back of the head, pushed her down a hill, and then drove off leaving her alone in a remote area. She was hurt, bleeding from her scrapes and scratches, frightened, and crying," Griffin wrote of Thompson's testimony.
The alleged assault happened in a remote area of E.C. Manning Provincial Park, east of Vancouver (B.C. Parks )
She testified that she did as she was asked, then waited outside for about 15 minutes before "Jason" returned and drove her home to Mission, B.C.
When the true owners of the house returned, they found their car had been stolen, and a camera, $300 in cash and a purse were missing. The burned-out vehicle was later located in the Mission area.
'The last thing in the world I would do'
At trial, prosecutors suggested Thompson had completely fabricated the events leading up to the break-in. During cross-examination, a Crown lawyer asked why she hadn't used the phone at the house to call police.
Thompson replied, "Would you call ... if [your boyfriend] hurt you and you were in a relationship with him? And then you'd be in even more trouble if you called the police? That's the last thing in the world I would do is call the cops."
She testified that as the abuse escalated, she eventually did report her ex to police in Mission and Calgary, and that she had photos of the bruises he'd given her.
He raped her 10 years ago. Now she wants his latest victims to know they're not alone
But, "no one at trial sought to call further evidence to refute or corroborate Ms. Thompson's evidence," Griffin wrote.
Griffin pointed out that there was evidence that might support a conviction for Thompson, but the lower court judge's guilty finding relied too heavily on unfair assumptions.
Thompson is scheduled to make her next appearance in court on Feb. 14 to fix a date for a new trial.
Over 500 child sexual abuse cases surfaced in Islamabad in last 5 years, police tell Senate committee
Human Rights minister skips meetings
Nadir GuramaniA Senate committee was informed on Monday that 300 cases of child sexual abuse were registered in Islamabad over the last five years, while another 260 cases went unregistered.
Cases of child abuse have been on the rise in Pakistan. A report compiled by NGO Sahil last year reveals that more than 12 children are abused every day. Instances of child abuse rose 32 per cent in the first six months of 2018 compared to the corresponding period in 2017, it says.
A Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) official earlier told Dawn that 3,445 cases of child abuse had been reported last year, according to data collected by NGOs.
These numbers, of course, represent only a small fraction of the real number of children being sexually abused. I certainly hope the minister doesn't think these numbers actually represent the horror of the situation. They just scratch the surface.
Nuzhat Sadiq, the convener of the Senate special committee on the issue of increasing incidents of child abuse, raised concerns over human rights minister Shireen Mazari's absence from the committee's meeting today.
"The surge in cases of child sexual abuse is a very important matter. The human rights minister did not attend the last session either," Sadiq noted, adding: "This is very non-serious of her."
Ministry of Human Rights representatives told the Senate committee that Mazari "is at PM House" and were unsure whether she would be able to attend the session.
Capital police officials, while briefing the committee on incidents of violence against children, said that two girls who had been abducted from Islamabad in 2016 remain missing.
Furthermore, the police officials said, the force had kept over 1,400 street children off the streets at safe shelters but they had soon returned to begging on the streets.
Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that out of school children are at risk, and pointed out that according to the government's data, there are roughly 25 million children currently out of school.
The Senator wondered why underage offenders are not "kept at juvenile centres even though such a facility exists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa".
The Senate special committee during a meeting on October 16 had expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of a mechanism for an official database to record incidents of child sexual abuse. Sadiq had directed the ministry to formulate a line of action and brief it on the issue during its next meeting.
Human Rights Ministry officials told the committee today that more than 80 laws for child protection exist and that measures are being taken to tackle child abuse cases.
The officials complained about the provinces' lack of cooperation with the Centre on the issue, saying that letters had written to the provinces but not even one responded.
Subsequently, the committee decided to raise the issue with Prime Minister Imran Khan to request immediate orders for prevention of child abuse cases.
After the passage of the 18th Amendment, it is the provincial government’s responsibility to draft a child protection policy. However, no such policy document exists.
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