A video of a man molesting a child in the open halls of the Abu Dhabi Mall whilst an onlooker records whilst other individuals go about their daily routine within the mall has gone viral in Saudi Arabia, via the Whatsapp platform; sparking controversy and debate. As reports have it the child is seen protesting, in an attempt to stop the molester to no avail. But perhaps what is seemingly more shocking is the onlooker who rather than stop the man proceeds to make a video of the act. In the digital world it would seem the loss of empathy is fast becoming a natural phenomenon, especially with the many stories of individuals who would rather take pictures of someone in danger than lend a helping hand.
With approximately 200 million of the world’s children experiencing sexual violence each year, the need to document and benchmark the global effort to prevent child sexual violence has never been more important,” Sweden’s Princess Madeleine, co-founder of the World Childhood Foundation’s #EyesWideOpen campaign, said in a press release.
With Pakistan ranking the worst country for crimes of sexual molestation against children in South Asia and by extension in the world; Analysts believe Saudi Arabia may be topping the charts in the middle-east, with figures remarkably higher than countries like Niger, Mali, South Sudan and Nigeria which are on the African list.
