PAGAL launches world’s first anti-grooming and abuse campaign.
London (PRWEB UK) 27 April 2015 -- PAGAL (Pakistani Anti-Grooming & Abuse League) is pleased to announce that it has today formally launched its social media campaign to raise awareness to fight against the grooming and abuse of young girls.
Statistics show that globally 1 out of every 4 girls will be sexually abused before her 18th birthday, and that over 90% of the time, the abuse will be carried out by someone with close ties to the victim or her family.
Tanweer Khan, founder and chairman of PAGAL, commented, "We have launched this campaign in direct response to the numerous scandals that have come to light globally over the last few years. A common factor in nearly all of these cases was that the perpetrators were able to commit their abuse over a period of time because neither victims nor their families came forward to report it – largely due to fear of one kind or another."
The PAGAL campaign is the world's first community-led and volunteer-operated initiative of its kind. It aims to raise awareness about the scale of the problem, as well as provide useful tips to help identify when a girl is being groomed or abused, thus enabling parents and guardians to take effective action to protect their daughters and ensure that abusers are reported to the authorities.
The PAGAL campaign already has the backing of several long-standing and well-respected Pakistani businesses. It is the hope of the PAGAL board of trustees that other businesses, especially larger multinationals and public sector organisations, will join in and confront this serious issue by including the prevention of grooming and abuse in their corporate social responsibility agenda.
Mr. Khan continued, "With this initiative we have truly started the ball rolling. Our message is very simple: ‘Don't ignore it, just report it.’ We firmly believe that if victims know that the issue is now being tackled head-on, instead of being brushed under the carpet, then the fear of reporting will disappear and abusers will be forced to think twice before committing such acts.”
Mr. Khan adds, “Given the bold and ambitious nature of this campaign, we adopted the name PAGAL, as the word ‘pagal’ in Urdu can be used to describe someone that is crazy, mad or passionate. We felt that it was somewhat appropriate, what with the taboo nature of the subject that we wish to attack.”
The PAGAL campaign's basic tenet is that every girl deserves a happy childhood; the girls of today are the mothers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, athletes, pop stars and CEOs of tomorrow, and it is the responsibility of the community at large, as well as the organisations that seek to employ them, to ensure that these girls are not subjected to grooming or abuse.
For more information, please contact PAGAL on +44 (0) 8450 940 870, http://www.pagal.org.uk
About PAGAL
PAGAL (Pakistani Anti-Grooming & Abuse League) is the world’s first and only community-led and volunteer-operated organisation dedicated solely to raising awareness of and tackling sexual abuse.
PAGAL’s mission is to empower the community to recognise and eliminate behavioural patterns that support a culture of grooming and abusing young girls.
PAGAL is a not-for-profit organisation recognised as charitable by HMRC for tax purposes.
Tanweer Khan, PAGAL, +44 8450940870, [email protected]
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