Child protection organization Sahil released its semi-annual report documenting 1,914 cases of crimes against children across Pakistan between January and June 2026, with Punjab accounting for 80 percent of all reported incidents.
The report, compiled from regional and national media monitoring across four provinces, Islamabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), detailed 1,015 cases of child sexual exploitation, 558 abductions, 101 missing children, 35 under-age marriages and 98 cases involving post-abuse pornography. The total tally included 49 abandoned newborns found on roadsides.
Female children comprised 58 percent of the recorded victims, while male children accounted for 42 percent. Data categorized by age groups showed the highest incidence among minors aged 11 to 15 years with 598 reported cases. Victims aged 16 to 18 accounted for 356 cases, children aged 6 to 10 accounted for 329 cases and 95 cases involved children aged 5 or younger. Age details remained unrecorded in 487 instances.
Regarding perpetrator relationships, 43 percent of the incidents involved acquaintances, 34 percent involved strangers and the relationship remained unspecified in 13 percent of cases.
Location metrics showed that 45 percent of offences occurred inside the victims’ residences, 18 percent inside offenders’ homes, and 3 percent in open fields, with 21 percent of reports omitting location details. Urban regions reported 57 percent of total incidents compared to 43 percent in rural areas.
Geographically, Sindh recorded 15 percent of total cases, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Islamabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan collectively accounted for 5 percent.
Law enforcement registered official cases in 89 percent of the reported incidents. Registration status remained unmentioned in 11 percent of instances, while seven cases were not reported to police and officers refused to register a case in one instance.
