An estimated 1.5 million Pakistani children experienced online sexual abuse in one year, with most victims staying silent because of stigma, shame, and fear.
WEBDESK – MEDIABITES
An estimated 1.5 million children in Pakistan experienced online sexual abuse in a single year, according to a UNICEF report highlighting the growing risks faced by children as internet access expands.
The victims, aged between 12 and 17, often knew their perpetrators, with around 85% of perpetrators reportedly known to the children they targeted.
For 17-year-old Zara Shah, whose name was changed for safety, the ordeal began while she was playing an online computer game.
“We started chatting while playing an online game, and he began acting like a friend,” Shah told AFP. The conversation eventually turned into requests for sexual images and threats that her family would be told about their communication.
“When I refused, he threatened to find my family online and tell them that we had been talking,” she said.
Zara’s experience reflects a broader pattern identified in the UNICEF report, according to the source material. Daniel Kardefelt, the report’s lead author, said abuse can begin with what appears to be an ordinary interaction.
“The abuse may start with a friendly conversation, a gaming interaction, a promise of gifts, money or romance,” he said.
Perpetrators can then spend extended periods building trust and using information gathered from social media to manipulate children.
Most victims remain silent
The UNICEF findings highlight another major concern: many children who experience online sexual abuse do not report it.
In Pakistan, 71% of victims did not tell anyone, according to the report. No children surveyed reported their abuse through formal channels such as police, helplines or social workers.
Stigma, shame and fear of family and social consequences were among the reasons for remaining silent.
Mehek Naeem, director of the Lahore-based children’s rights organization PAHCHAAN, said about 44% of reported abuse was entirely online, with Snapchat and WhatsApp among the settings most frequently identified.
Girls can face additional risks when perpetrators use threats of exposure or sexual extortion. In conservative families, such threats can result in restrictions on a girl’s movement or even withdrawal from school.
For Zara, the possibility of her family discovering what had happened was enough to keep her from seeking help.
“I could have been stopped from going to school or leaving the house altogether,” she said.
“Staying quiet felt like the better option than speaking up. But anxiety kills me every day.”
Internet access is expanding
The scale of the problem comes as more Pakistani children gain access to the internet.
UNICEF estimates that around 74% of children aged 12 to 17 in Pakistan are internet users, increasing the importance of effective safeguards against online exploitation.
The issue has also prompted debate over how governments should respond.
The Punjab government passed a resolution this month seeking to prevent children under 16 from using social media. However, the proposal has faced criticism from digital rights advocates.
Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist, said he disagreed with the proposed ban, arguing that it could be difficult to enforce because children could circumvent restrictions using VPNs. He also raised concerns about children’s freedom of expression.
Experts call for stronger implementation
Pakistan already has laws addressing technology-facilitated offenses against children, but experts cited in the report say enforcement remains a major problem.
Tahira Afrasiyab, a spokesperson for nonprofit organization Muslim Hands, said there was a legal framework but “no implementation.”
Human rights lawyer Salman Afridi also pointed to gaps in existing laws and warned that economic vulnerability could be exploited to obtain sexual content for relatively small sums.
He described a broader process involving grooming, inducement, coercion, blackmail, production and distribution of abusive material.
The findings underline the difficulty of protecting children through restrictions alone. Experts say stronger implementation of existing protections, accessible reporting mechanisms and greater awareness among children and families are also important in addressing online exploitation.
For Zara, however, the consequences of one online interaction remain deeply personal.
“I was, and am, scared,” she said.
“I live in fear.”
