Pakistan's rapid digitalisation and surging smartphone penetration have turned homes and classrooms into largely unmonitored entry points for online predators, with nearly 1.5 million children aged 12 to 17 experiencing at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse in a single year — roughly one in every 16 internet-using children in the country, according to a major multi-agency study.

Scale of the Crisis

The findings come from a report titled 'Disrupting Harm in Pakistan: Evidence on Technology-Facilitated Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse', jointly produced by the UNICEF Office of Strategy and Evidence — Innocenti, ECPAT International, and INTERPOL, with funding from Safe Online. The study drew on a nationally representative household survey of children and their parents or caregivers, interviews with frontline and justice professionals, and a review of relevant laws and policies.

Investigations by Pakistani law enforcement, including the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), have exposed organised online networks that exploit gaming platforms, dark web channels, and encrypted messaging applications to groom, manipulate, and blackmail children.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Despite the alarming scale, the study found that the problem remains substantially hidden. More than half of children subjected to technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse reportedly did not disclose the abuse to anyone. Critically, none of the children surveyed reported their experience to formal avenues — including police, helplines, or social workers.

Community stigma, victim-blaming, and a deep lack of trust in law enforcement were identified as the key barriers preventing children and families from speaking out. This silence, researchers warned, makes accurate measurement and effective intervention exceptionally difficult.

Gaps in Pakistan's Legal Framework

UNICEF identified significant gaps in Pakistan's legal and institutional response. Among the most pressing: the absence of a systematic requirement for child forensic interviews to be conducted by specially trained professionals. Inappropriate questioning, the study cautioned, can expose young survivors to secondary victimisation while they are attempting to report abuse.

The report also flagged the continued use of the term 'child pornography' within Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) when referring to child sexual abuse material. This terminology has been widely criticised in child-protection circles for downplaying the coercion and exploitation inherent in such material and for potentially framing evidence of abuse as a form of consensual content — a characterisation experts argue could undermine prosecution and survivor support.

The Gap Between Law and Reality

The study emphasised that a criminal prohibition alone is an insufficient response. As the report noted: 'Children must be able to report offences, have evidence handled sensitively, obtain support and see allegations investigated. Where those steps are difficult to access, the distance between legal protection and practical safety remains substantial.'

This comes amid Pakistan's broader digital expansion, where access to devices has outpaced the development of safeguarding infrastructure. The country's legal framework, experts argue, has not kept pace with the speed at which children have gone online.

What Needs to Change

Child-protection advocates are calling for mandatory specialist training for all professionals who interview child survivors, a legislative update to replace the term 'child pornography' with internationally recognised terminology such as 'child sexual abuse material', and investment in accessible, trusted reporting channels for children. Without these reforms, campaigners warn, millions of children remain legally protected on paper but practically unprotected in daily life.