Original subtitles

It's one of the world's most important Muslim nations,

a nuclear power, ally to the West

in the war against terror and a democracy.

But Pakistan is also a country in denial,

turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of many

thousands of poor and vulnerable children.

It's one of the most sad and shameful aspects of our society.

I have to say, I'm totally embarrassed by this,

that we have not really been able to protect them.

It's going on everywhere. In the big cities, or small cities, towns.

Everywhere this is happening.

It's estimated that over four million children across Pakistan

are forced to work from an early age due to poverty.

Of these, up to one and a half million live on the streets,

with no home to go to.

For the poorest kids in Peshawar, often the only source of income

is picking garbage from gutters

Working up to 14 hours a day for a pittance.

Aqib is nine years old.

Playing in a dirty, polluted canal might seem danger enough,

but for boys like Aqib and his friends,

there are other hazards they must face every day.

The man speaking with the boys is social worker Afzal Shah,

one of the very few people trying to

protect the street children of Peshawar.

The centre gives a small number of boys the chance to rest

But there are 5,000 street children in Peshawar alone,

most with nowhere to go.

13-year-old Naeem is grateful

for even the little protection the shelter provides.

But Afzal's day care centre is just that -

funded by charitable donations, there's little money

and most kids have to leave and fend for themselves at night.

With nowhere to sleep,

many hang around the city's main bus terminal,

where beds are laid out in the open each evening

for drivers to catch some sleep between journeys.

This makeshift hostel is run by Hassan Deen.

But as we later discover,

there's more to Hassan Deen than he cares to admit.

Naeem, whom we met at Afzal's day-centre,

comes here when there's nowhere else to go.

They're a colourful sight on the roads of Pakistan,

brightly decorated by their owners, depicting historical heroes.

MAN SHOUTS

Trucks and buses are the lifeblood

of the Pakistan economy, and Peshawar,

just 40 minutes' drive from the Afghan border,

is a key transport hub for Central and Southern Asia.

But behind the colour lies another story.

In towns and cities across Pakistan, much of the sexual abuse

of street boys takes place at bus and truck terminals.

When darkness falls,

hostel owner Hassan Deen provides an extra service.

He also admits to using boys for himself.

At bus and truck terminals across Pakistan, drivers and conductors

often keep boys on a permanent basis, as helpers or apprentices.

There is a culture to have a small child with you, go along with.

And it means that the child is kept as a prostitute

or as a partner, sexual partner.

Human rights lawyer, Zia Awan, has fought for the rights

Hundreds of children are being raped every day. They are being sold.

They are being trafficked. They

It's going on everywhere.

And people don't believe when we say something,

they say that civil society is exaggerating.

It's a taboo subject, but in recent times, articles have finally begun

to appear in Pakistani newspapers highlighting cases of child abuse.

But Zia Awan claims the problem is hugely underestimated.

We are, every day, listening to children who are being abused,

who are on the street or in the school or wherever they are.

Or the home settings.

In one survey, carried out by a children's charity, 95% of truck

drivers admitted having sex with boys was their main entertainment.

And some local surveys have estimated

that nine out of every ten street kids have been abused.

If accurate, that puts the figure, on a national scale,

in the hundreds of thousands.

the daily struggle is just to survive.

His parents died when he was eight

and he's run away several times since.

Naeem was given drugs by older men on his first nights on the streets.

He's now an addict.

Pakistan has over a million heroin users

and almost 30% of those who inject the drug are HIV positive.

Being so close to

drugs are plentiful in Peshawar.

At night, dealers hang around the main bus terminal.

Aware of the dangers on the streets, social worker Afzal has been

After the meeting,

he asks to be dropped at a local cinema to watch a movie.

There are two cinemas on this street.

Already, he's breaking the promise he made to Afzal.

Naeem had discovered a way

to pay for his growing drug addiction at an early age.

To show how open street prostitution is,

Naeem invites us to a busy intersection.

Over the next 20 minutes, other men try to solicit sex from Naeem.

In order to survive,

prostitution has become commonplace for many street children.

One of Naeem's friends, 12-year-old Saeed,

is described as promiscuous by the other boys.

has counselled street children for the last seven years.

Many adults appear to blame the children themselves.

In one study, 1,800 men were interviewed

about their feelings towards child sexual abuse.

One third of them said they did not consider it to be bad,

let alone a crime or a sin.

Ghulam Qadri, deputy country director for the charity

Save The Children, says much of the problem stems from the past

history of the abusers themselves.

The people who indulge in those activities, in many cases,

Many times, they were abused as a child, as well.

So, this becomes a routine practice in their life.

So, they don't consider this as a crime.

Yet some of the abusers go to desperate lengths to ensure

no-one finds out.

We conducted a study and the horrifying figures were that

out of every ten children who were sexually abused, one was killed.

The people who commit this crime, to protect their identity,

Many psychologists argue that the attraction to young boys

stems from the rigid segregation of the sexes

in significant parts of Pakistani society,

where women are perceived as the inferior gender,

rarely seen in public and with very few rights.

A 2014 World Health Organisation report places such gender inequality

at the very top of causes for child abuse

and a recent World Economic Forum report named Pakistan

second worst country in the world

when it comes to equal opportunities for women.

Ejaz, the bus conductor,

has strong views on what he believes a woman's role should be.

to Peshawar's main bus terminal, where much of the abuse takes place.

runs through Pakistani society

and that this has led

A 2010 UNICEF report

suggests that traditional Pakistani cultural values of purity

and protection of women have contributed to men preying on boys.

And Ejaz, in his own way,

appears to echo that report.

Laws do exist to protect children,

but those trying to help say the authorities ignore them.

to implement those laws to protect our children.

The governor of this region is Imran Khan,

a world-famous sportsman, now turned politician.

He was shocked by the evidence we presented to him,

including that some surveys show as many as 90% of street children

may have been sexually abused.

I didn't realise it happened to the extent you're saying.

It's one of the most sad and shameful aspects of our society,

I have to say.

I'm totally embarrassed by this figure.

And, well, my party has only been in government

for the last seven and a half months, seven months,

and so I've seen the poverty growing in Pakistan

and obviously the children are the weakest members of society

and get hurt the most.

But those directly involved

say one of the biggest problems is that police on the ground

Law enforcers are hardly listening to all these cries

which the street child is making.

So it's a very grim situation,

not a very good situation

Often caught up dealing with Taliban attacks,

the local police here in Peshawar admit child protection

In the last 5 years,

700 policemen have been killed in terrorist attacks.

The amount of terrorism in this country has grown to the point

that the security agencies which

So it's very difficult for them to then go and protect children,

street children.

Afzal is becoming increasingly concerned about Naeem.

He's discovered that the boy has been harming himself.

It becomes clear he's been doing it for some time.

It's obvious something is troubling him,

but Afzal is worried about Naeem's state of mind.

Fearing the worst, he confides in us.

We ask Naeem.

The abused has become the abuser.

Afzal fears that Naeem is now reaching crisis point.

That he's beginning to show suicidal tendencies.

Afzal believes the Naeem is too psychologically damaged

by his life in Peshawar and needs specialist, long-term care.

no proper government-run facility

and charities are struggling to survive because of lack of funds.

He speaks with Naeem, who doesn't want to leave his friends,

but realises this may be the only chance he has.

But Karachi is over a thousand kilometres away and to move him,

Afzal needs the agreement of Naeem's older brother, Hazratullah,

the same man he ran away from almost a year ago because of beatings.

Four days have passed since Afzal first raised

the possibility of Naeem moving to Karachi.

Thinking he'd been forgotten,

the boy had begun to despair

and returned to drugs.

Naeem isn't aware that the day of decision has arrived.

His brother and another relative show up in Afzal's office

to meet with the boy, face to face.

The social worker who will accompany Naeem to Karachi,

if everything's agreed, has come as a witness.

For Naeem, at last, there's hope.

He's on his way to the drug rehabilitation centre in Karachi,

and now has a future to look forward to.

Naeem must spend the first week at his new home locked behind bars

He's allowed out for a medical check-up, including an HIV test.

A drug-free week has passed.

Naeem has been released from the withdrawal room, but he's

confined to his new quarters and now says he regrets leaving Peshawar.

But there's something else troubling him.

Today, he gets the results of his HIV test.

Naeem is just one example.

Hundreds of thousands of others are at great risk every day

on the streets of Pakistan.

Many of those working on behalf of the children

have accused Pakistani politicians

of turning a blind eye to the plight of those abused.

But perhaps, at last, a champion may be emerging on their behalf.

It's really shameful for us

that we have not really been able to protect them.

So we will have a task force

specifically to get rid of this crime.

I'm going to have a meeting in a week's time

and I will bring this on.

And it will help if your film comes out

because we will use that film and then we'll take action.

That action cannot come soon enough.

Back in Peshawar, Afzal has received a call.

Another little boy has turned up on the streets near the bus station.

Thank you. Thank you so much, thank you.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd