The child protection organization Sahil said these cases were reported in 81 newspapers across the country, including the four provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Child abuse cases in Pakistan rise 8% to 3,630 in 2025, according to a new report released by child protection organization Sahil.
The data shows that girls were slightly more affected than boys. A total of 1,924 girls, which is 53% of victims, were reported in abuse cases. Meanwhile, 1,625 boys made up 47% of the victims.
In addition, 116 cases involved newborn babies, highlighting how even the youngest children are not safe from violence.
On average, the report suggests that more than nine children were abused every day in Pakistan during 2025.
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Among the different categories of crimes, abduction was the most commonly reported case with 1,107 incidents.
This was followed by 596 cases of sodomy and 522 cases of rape. Other crimes included 365 cases of missing children, 195 cases of attempted rape, and 141 cases of attempted sodomy.
The report also recorded 130 cases of gang sodomy and 108 cases of gang rape. In 58 cases, children were murdered after sexual abuse. There were also 53 reported cases of child marriage.
Children between the ages of 11 and 15 were found to be the most vulnerable to abuse. In this age group, more boys were affected compared to girls.
The report further revealed that in many cases the abusers were people known to the victims, such as relatives, neighbors, or acquaintances.
Punjab recorded the highest number of child abuse cases, accounting for 73% of the total. Sindh followed with 21%, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 4% of cases. The remaining 2% were reported from Balochistan, federal areas, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Sahil noted that 82% of the reported child abuse cases were officially registered with the police, which it described as a positive sign of active law enforcement.
The organization also released figures about violence against women and gender-based violence in Pakistan.
According to the data, 7,071 cases of gender-based violence were reported nationwide in 2025. These included crimes such as murder, suicide, abduction, rape, honor killing, and torture.
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The report shows a sharp 34% increase in gender-based violence compared with previous figures.
Among these cases, murder was the most common category with 1,546 incidents. It was followed by 1,345 cases of abduction and 1,169 cases of torture.
There were also 877 rape cases, 680 suicides, 449 injury cases, 316 harassment cases, and 284 honor killing incidents. In addition, 41 acid attack cases were reported.
The data revealed that in 32% of gender-based violence cases, the abuser was someone known to the victim. In 18% of cases, the attacker was a stranger, while in 12% the abuser was the victim’s husband.
Punjab again recorded the highest share of these cases, accounting for 78% of the total reported incidents. Sindh reported 14%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 6%, while the remaining 2% were reported from Balochistan, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
