violence against the children

With the name of kind God and greeting to you dear fans of the programs of Change in Life Compiegne; it is the place of pleasure that we are here to present another discussion program to you. Our today’s discussion is about the violence against the children and the guests that we are having today with us are Mr. Ali Eftekhari the spokesman of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) and Mr. Muhammad Bilal Siddiqi the head of children section of the independent human rights commission of Afghanistan.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; based on your opinion what is the violence against the children?

Answer: Thanks you and greetings to the fans of this program; regarding your question I would like to say that we cannot have a specific definition of the violence against the children because we are seeing different types of the violence against the children like physical, psychological etc.

The other problem which is on the way of the children is the three decades of war which has ruined all the infrastructure of our country and as a result the children are facing different types of problems because of this issue.

From the other side the lack of awareness and or the low level of awareness among the people of the society caused that the children could not reach to their rights and facilities and the people of the society are also not aware of the rights of the children which causes a number of problems in the forms of dangers and violence in the children.

Finally I can say that any action which causes harm and annoyance in the children either psychologically or physically is called violence against the children.

Question: Mr. Bilal; from the legal point of view and your point of view, what could be the results of children’s harassment on the children and on the society?

Answer: Thank you; I would like to say about the violence against the children that any action which is physical, psychological and verbal or in any form which causes the growth of the children is considered as the violence.

The violence are in the different forms like the verbal violence, physical violence, and psychological violence and mainly we can say verbal and structural violence.

Most of the society members are not familiar with the structural violence and mostly they are thinking that violence is beating but the violence are in different forms which were mentioned before.

From the other side if you have gone to some parties and places where the elders are along with the children; first of all no one is allowing the children to talk and if a child speaks up then he is named that disobedient child and this is common as a custom among the people of the society and could be considered as the biggest violence against the children and it will lead that the children become discouraged in the society.

In the law of eliminate violence against the women and under the fifth article it is mentioned that the most serious violence is considered the violence against the girls below 18 years of age.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; based on your opinion, what are the views of the society that they are not accepting the children in a proper way; is the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) has performed anything regarding the awareness about the rights of the children or not?

Answer: Let’s first see that from where the structural violence generates; in the creation of structural violence; before we see the role of the laws we can see the lack of awareness of the society people.

Regarding the creation and adjustment of the laws I would like to say that it is the duty of Ministry of Justice and there should at least one person from them to answer these questions but regarding the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) I would like to mention that we had some remarkable activities in this regard.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; some of the parent are using injections to their children so that them remain unconscious and they use them for earning money; what have been done so far by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) against these people?

Answer: For sure I would like to mention in this regard that the children or the persons who were attempting this action were collected then their problems were evaluated by the relevant committee and based on their problems they were supported. We have projects from the World Bank and if there are people having problems then we have support them directly in the monetary form as well but our problem is that those children who are supported and the target is to have them as normal people of the society but after the passage of a couple of days they are going back to the streets, this is in the situation where they are granted by their families that they will not commit such actions.

From the other side, among these there is also a legal or behavioral problem because one a person commit such an action or a child is misused in this regard then the law is not allowing to treat them harshly and or send them to prison.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; there are discussions that there are some groups which are misusing the children for these purposes, have you ever any reaction to these bonds?

Answer: From the bonds or groups that you are talking we have never faced but as you are discussing we are also informed that there are groups or person who are misusing the children; for example: we heard that these groups are having the shuttle vehicles and dropping the children in different places so that they use these children for their purposes.

But to talk with proofs; there are no such issues and we also don’t have any witness for this.

Question: Mr. Bilal; recently there are clamors that some sexual harassments have been committed to the children and sometimes these misuses are done through those who are the implementers of the laws; what is the cause and why these actions are increasing?

Answer: There are a number of problems that the children are faced with such problems but I would like to mention that the crime is created along with the society; from the other side the crime has changed its direction based on the societies and has developed. In our county Afghanistan the problem of sexual harassment with the children were there but in the current conditions that we are the witness of a case or more is just because of the availability of the media and they are informing us from such cases but the fact is that these cases were from the past.

The significant reason which causes this problem is the weakness of the law in the society and there is no legal follow up of the cases and if anyone is committing this action is thinking that there are people who are supporting them.

From the other side the confidentialities of our societies cause that people of the society commit the sexual harassment against the children who are the weak layer of the society. It means that whenever the people of the society from the legal way could not fulfill their sexual desires then they think to use the weak layer of the society and fulfill their needs.

From the other side the lack of attention from the families towards their children could also result to such dangerous cases.

The problem of security could also be another reason in the increase of sexual harassments against the children. Whenever in an environment there is no security then there would be lack of law and whenever there is no law then people will not be afraid of the legal issues and will commit these actions.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; are there statistics with the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) to show how many sexual harassment attempts have been taken place against the children?

Answer: Since 2006 when the strategic support to the children was created then in overall country their offices also started operations and based on the reports from these institutions round about one thousand cases of violence and problems of the children were registered in these centers; where from the total three hundred cases were directly violence against the children and the remaining problems include kidnaps, thefts and other types of crimes.

But regarding the issue that why the children are mostly sexually misused, I would like to say that they have problems from their family sides; there are many families that their children are not keeping them informed while they are getting married and whenever two young are getting married then they may have a family where there is no understanding among themselves to have discussions on different issues; this lack of cooperation and understanding leads that they have no attention towards their children and their children may go outside to the streets and would be the victims of different kinds of the people in the society.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; One of the reasons of increase in the sexual misuses of the children is the lack of consideration of the actions of the wrongdoers and the presence of corruption in these organizations; you as a sectorial Ministry which kind of responsibility do you have regarding the children?

Answer: I previously mentioned about the steerage and reform centers of the children and also about the committee and institutions which are working regarding the children; if these committees find any violation against the children then for sure that they will follow up the issues legally.

Question: Mr. Siddiqi; one of the fans of the program has asked that so far what activities are done by the independent human rights commission of Afghanistan to reduce the number of sexual misuses against the children?

Answer: For sure regarding the question of our friend I would like to mention that based on the article 57 of the constitution of the country, the independent human rights commission is created, first of all the supervision and then advise is the core responsibilities of this institution; where it should have supervision from different layers of the society people and then give good advises to the governmental and non-governmental organizations for the solution of the problems.

Regarding this that what activities are accomplished by the independent human rights commission for Afghanistan so far; I would like to mention that the commission is always supervising the activities of the institutions and have information about the conditions of the children. Whenever we are observing that in a place the rights of the children are violated then we are following these cases through our networks.

Question: In the current conditions that statistics of the violence against the children are very high; if the activities of the civil society institution and then especially those who are working for the children is like this then what do you expect and evaluate after some years about the future of the children?

Answer: Without doubt that the conditions are anguish and needs a serious coordination; all the institutions based on their responsibilities and facilities should have their activities, the institutions which are having the responsibility of observation and supervision they should have their proper supervision from different place for these issues. From the other side if there are institutions which are having the responsibility of awareness then they should struggle to properly aware the people of the society and they should prepare their awareness plans bases on the level of the society. Similarly, the institutions which are having the execution responsibility then they should properly implement the laws and they should not give the chance to the people of the society to have the opportunity to misuse the children.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; how can we change the views of the parent against their children, which means that how the parent can look to their children like a member of the society not as a secondary person of the society who are always been forced for the issues?

Answer: Whenever the parents are having information regarding the rights of their children then they will not commit violence against their children. Where in this issue not only this is the responsibility of the governmental organization but is the duty of all people of the society until they ensure the awareness at the society level and they should struggle to eliminate the problem from the society and among the people.

This is also a question that how can we have the awareness programs; then I would say that let’s first start from the media and press which are having mostly its effects in the society but unfortunately I would like to say that some of the media are fulfilling the gaps between their program with some useless programs and if instead of these programs they have awareness programs then it would be much better. Similarly the religious leaders could also be effective in the process of awareness among the people because our society is mostly religious and customs based and our people are paying more attention and are accepting more from the religious leaders.

Question: Mr. Eftekhari; in some of the families the parent or elders in the presence of their children are either smoking cigrattes or using snuffs or other things, now based on your point of view how much negatively these things effects on the children?

Answer: Once again I would like to say that this problem raises because of the lack of awareness among the parents and they are not aware of the social tact and behavior with the children; the parent are not aware of the their children rights, they are not aware of their actions that what negative effect it will have on their children, these points are all together lead that the families deliver immoral children to the society and to cope with this problem again I would like to mention that awareness is required among the families.

Question: Mr. Bilal; as a final question, what are your proposals for the solution of these problems?

Answer: First of all the proper implementation of the laws which will have a very prominent effect on this problem.

Awareness among all the people of the society; as till now the people are not aware of the laws

If further struggled is put then the security would be ensured all over the country and then the implementation of the laws would be easy.

To remove the absurd customs and traditions of the society.

Hard work and activities of the institutions, regarding the further awareness among the people of the society.

The awareness which will be given by the religious leaders could be very effective on the people of the society.

And finally the more attention of the families towards their children which could also have very much effect on these problem.

Thank you very much friends that you have followed our discussions.