No reliable data on child online abuse, HRCP warns

Pakistan has no reliable national database to establish how many children are subjected to online sexual exploitation, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has said in a report, warning that weak reporting, poor coordination between institutions and inadequate protection for victims keep most cases from surfacing.

The report was published by Express News. The commission said the online sexual exploitation of children should be treated as a question of their fundamental rights and protection rather than only as a cybercrime matter, and that the absence of dependable data leaves the real scale of the problem unknown.

The report cites a case reported from Muzaffargarh in 2025, in which at least 50 children, among them children aged six or younger, were allegedly sexually exploited through an international network.

It also refers to figures from the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to which reports of suspected child sexual abuse material linked to Pakistan exceeded 2 million in 2021. The report makes clear that the figure counts reports of digital activity rather than the number of children affected, and that the cases which do surface are only part of the problem.

HRCP recommended effective coordination among child protection agencies, police, cybercrime investigation units, prosecutors and the judiciary, and said action against accused persons must be made certain. It called for legal, psychological and rehabilitation support for children who have been exploited.

According to the commission, awareness campaigns on their own are not enough. It said an effective child protection system, institutional accountability and a clear definition of the responsibilities of internet platforms are also required, so that cases are caught earlier and pursued through the courts.