Around 1.5 million children in Pakistan experienced sexual abuse online over the course of a year, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is urging parents to take a far more active role in monitoring their children’s digital lives.
The organisation warned against granting children unrestricted access to online platforms, stressing that effective parental supervision has become an urgent necessity rather than a matter of choice.
A Culture of Silence Around Abuse
Compounding the crisis is the silence that surrounds it. According to UNICEF, 57 per cent of affected children never disclosed their experiences, held back by shame, fear of how their families would react, and anxiety over social stigma.
The agency also flagged the use of artificial intelligence to generate fake images and videos of children as an emerging and fast-growing threat.
Social Media and Known Perpetrators
A research report issued by UNICEF found that social media accounted for 44 per cent of reported online harassment incidents. Perhaps most disturbing, in 85 per cent of the cases described by affected children, the alleged perpetrator was someone they already knew.
The report identified several major forms of online sexual abuse, including:
- Sending inappropriate images and messages to children
- Requesting private photographs from minors
- Distributing images without consent
- Blackmailing victims with threats to expose material
Calls for Legal and Institutional Reform
UNICEF has called for closing gaps in Pakistan’s legal framework, improving the quality of investigations, and strengthening child protection mechanisms across the country.
The organisation also emphasised the need to establish safe and accessible channels through which children and their families can report abuse without fear of further harm or social backlash.
