etween 2022 and 2025, a total of 15,460 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in national media across Pakistan, according to Sahil’s Cruel Numbers. Of those, 7,088 victims were boys and 8,291 girls. In 81 cases, the gender was unspecified. The figures are close, with girls making up 54 per cent and boys 46 per cent. Around 74 per cent of these cases were reported from the Punjab.

At first glance, these numbers appear to tell a clear story. They suggest scale, patterns and geography. But a closer look reveals something more troubling. These figures do not measure the prevalence of abuse. They reflect what gets reported, what reaches the medias and what the system allows to become visible.

The Punjab’s dominance in reported cases is often explained by its population size. That is partly true. But population alone does not explain why such a disproportionate share of cases emerges from one province. A more uncomfortable question follows. Is the Punjab experiencing higher levels of risk for children, or simply greater visibility in terms of reporting and media coverage? If the latter is even partly true, then the lower numbers from other provinces may reflect silence rather than safety. This points to disparities not only in reporting, but also in access to services and institutional responsiveness across regions.

The data also unsettles another assumption. Child sexual abuse is often framed as a problem that primarily affects girls. While girls do make up a slightly higher proportion, the numbers show that boys account for nearly half of the reported victims. This is not a marginal issue. It points to a persistent blind spot in public discourse and policy responses, where abuse of boys remains underacknowledged and underreported.

If the picture painted by media reports is incomplete, official data does not resolve the confusion. The National Commission on the Rights of the Child, in its State of Children in Pakistan 2024, reported 21,987 cases of child sexual violence offences recorded under the Pakistan Penal Code in a single year, based on data from provincial Police Departments. Of these, nearly 79 per cent of the victims were girls, highlighting a stark divergence from the media-reported pattern.

The divergence between these data sets is not a technical detail. It reflects a deep institutional problem. Pakistan still lacks a unified and reliable system to record, track and analyse cases of child sexual abuse. Different institutions generate different numbers, based on different methodologies, with limited coordination between them. As a result, the country lacks a clear and credible picture of the scale of abuse. Without that, policy responses remain reactive and inconsistent.

This is not a new concern. In its 2026 Concluding Observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Pakistan to strengthen its child protection systems, ensure child-friendly reporting mechanisms and adopt a coordinated approach to responding to violence against children. The recommendations are not abstract. They speak directly to the gaps that are visible in data and practice.

The National Commission on the Rights of the Child has similarly emphasised the need for a coordinated, multi-sectoral response, stronger data systems and institutional accountability. These recommendations echo long-standing gaps. The issue is no longer identifying solutions, but ensuring their consistent and effective implementation.

Pakistan is not short of laws or policy frameworks. The challenge lies in how they are implemented. Responses to child sexual abuse remain fragmented across departments, provinces and institutions. This lack of coordination is compounded by the absence of a single entity clearly accountable for outcomes. There is no consistent prevention strategy that operates nationwide. Critically, there is no standardised case management and referral system to ensure that a child is supported from the moment of disclosure through investigation, prosecution and recovery and rehabilitation. Existing legal provisions also require meaningful operationalisation. Mechanisms such as Anti-Rape Crisis Cells, provided for under the Anti-Rape Trial and Investigation Act, are intended to ensure immediate and coordinated responses, including medical examination, evidence collection and registration of cases. In practice, they continue to face uneven implementation and limited functionality. Existing legal provisions already recognise the need for victim-centred support, including the role of independent support advisers to assist survivors through legal proceedings and reduce the risk of re-traumatisation. Uneven implementation continues to limit the effectiveness of such mechanisms, reflecting a wide gap between legal intent and institutional practice.

In practice, this means that the outcome of a case often depends on where it is reported and who handles it. A child may encounter police officers without specialised training, medical procedures that are not child sensitive and legal processes that are slow and intimidating. Coordination between these actors is often weak, increasing the risk of re-trauma and cases failing to move forward. Reporting a case is only the first step. What follows is often uncertain and uneven. Weak investigations, delays in prosecution and low conviction outcomes continue to undermine accountability and deterrence, further reinforcing systemic weaknesses in response.

The persistence of child sexual abuse in Pakistan is not simply a failure of awareness or social attitudes. It is, at its core, a reflection of systemic gaps. As long as prevention remains ad hoc and response mechanisms remain fragmented, the numbers will continue to fluctuate without meaningful decline.

Addressing these gaps requires more than policy intent. While certain legal provisions and mechanisms already exist, they remain fragmented, offence-specific and uneven in implementation. Provincial governments should move towards strengthening and, where necessary, enacting legislation that formalises a standardised case management and referral system for child protection across all forms of violence against children. The framework should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of police, medico-legal services, prosecution and psycho-social support providers, ensuring coordination beyond isolated or offence-specific responses. It should also establish binding obligations to ensure that cases are handled in a coordinated, timely and child-centred manner. This must be accompanied by oversight and accountability mechanisms to monitor compliance and ensure that gaps in response are identified and addressed. Without such clarity and legal backing, existing mechanisms are likely to remain dependent on individual initiative rather than institutional responsibility.

Prevention must also move beyond isolated awareness efforts. Provincial child protection authorities, in collaboration with Education Departments, should institutionalise structured, age-appropriate child protection education within schools, supported by mandatory training for teachers and integrated into accountability frameworks. Schools remain one of the few institutions with sustained access to children, parents and caregivers. With right systems in place, teachers can play a role not only in educating children but also in engaging families, equipping them with practical tools to recognise risks and respond to abuse. Without leveraging schools as community-facing institutions, prevention efforts will continue to fall short of scale.

Beyond institutional reforms, engaging children in protection efforts remains an under-utilised but critical approach. When children are equipped with age-appropriate information in safe and structured environments, and supported by trained and trusted adults, they are better positioned to recognise risks, seek help and support their peers. This aligns with broader calls to strengthen child participation mechanisms and ensure that they are given meaningful roles in shaping responses to issues that affect them. Existing platforms such as student councils in schools can serve as practical entry points to institutionalise child-led and child-focused actions on protection, provided they are supported with clear mandates, trained facilitators and appropriate safeguards.

These systemic gaps are further compounded by a widening disconnect between the scale of the problem and the attention it receives. Even these limited reported figures continue to signal urgency, yet child protection is sidelined within broader development and human rights priorities. This has real consequences. Reduced investment weakens institutional capacity, disrupts continuity of interventions and limits the ability of frontline actors to respond effectively. Without aligning resources with the scale of the challenge, policy commitments are unlikely to translate into meaningful outcomes.

The persistence of child sexual abuse in Pakistan is not simply a failure of awareness or social attitudes. It is, at its core, a reflection of systemic gaps. As long as prevention remains ad hoc and response mechanisms remain fragmented, the numbers will continue to fluctuate without meaningful decline.

The challenge is no longer a lack of knowledge, but a lack of consistent action. The gaps have been identified repeatedly, by civil society, by national institutions and by international bodies. What remains in question is whether there is sufficient and sustained political and institutional commitment to address these challenges in a coordinated manner.

Until that changes, the system will continue to record cases without meaningfully preventing them and children will continue to navigate a response that is uncertain, uneven and, too often, inadequate.

The writer is executive director of Search for Justice. He has over 19 years of experience in human rights advocacy, particularly in child protection policy, governance and institutional reform. He can be reached at [email protected]