To identify factors leading to sexual abuse amongst male children from 2003 to 2007 in Pakistan.

To discuss the psychological consequences of sexual abuse in male children.

Organizing construct:

Child sexual abuse is defined as use of child for sexual gratification of an adult which ranges from penetration to showing a minor pornography. More than half of Pakistani population consists of children. Amongst these estimated 10 million children are suffering from the consequences of poverty and are prone of getting sexually abuse.

Method:

Systematic review of published literature from the perspective of health and sociology was done from 2003 to 2007 using the combination of key words: male child sexual abuse, its causes and consequences from the context of Pakistani society.

Finding:

The factors contributing towards spread of child sexual abuse amongst the male were firstly poverty, leading to increase in the number of street children. Secondly, in rural areas the issue exists due to firm segregation of male and female attributable to following strict pardah system and lastly in urban areas it is prevailing because of lack of awareness amongst the parents regarding the issue as most of the parents find it culturally sensitive to be discussed with the children. The consequences of abuse are in the form of psychological trauma, that is rendering the children with stress and gender identification conflict which can lag them far behind their developmental stages.

Conclusion:

Poverty and negligence were found to be the confounding factors in this issue. The mandate to solve this problem is the leading responsibility of health care providers and this can be achieved by further evaluating these factors through research and giving awareness to parents. Moreover there is a need to build a complete infrastructure to support, rehabilitate and protect these children from societal harm.