1.5 Million Pakistani Children Faced Online Sexual Abuse in One Year, UNICEF Finds

For 17-year-old Zara Shah, what began as an ordinary online game ended with threats, fear and a decision to stay silent.

Zara, a pseudonym used to protect her identity, said a person she met while gaming gradually presented himself as a friend before asking her for sexual images.

When she refused, she said, he threatened to expose their conversations to her family.

“I was, and am, scared. I live in fear,” she told AFP.

Her experience reflects a much wider problem in Pakistan.

Nearly one in 16 internet-using children aged 12 to 17 experienced at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse in a single year, according to a new UNICEF study.

That translates to about 1.5 million children.

The research was conducted by UNICEF Innocenti, ECPAT International and INTERPOL, with funding from Safe Online. It is based on a nationally representative survey of children and their parents and caregivers, as well as interviews with professionals working in child protection and the justice system.

The findings cover experiences including unwanted sexual conversations or images, requests for sexual images, the sharing of children's images without permission, sexual blackmail and abuse involving artificial intelligence-generated material.

The danger is often closer than parents think

One of the report's most striking findings challenges the idea that online sexual abuse is mainly about children being approached by unknown predators.

In 85 per cent of incidents reported in the research, the perpetrator was someone the child already knew.

That can make the abuse harder to recognise.

A conversation can begin through gaming, social media or another digital platform. Trust may then be built gradually before the perpetrator introduces sexual requests, pressure or threats.

UNICEF says perpetrators can exploit children's fear of embarrassment, exposure and blame to keep them from seeking help.

The result is a cycle in which the technology makes contact easy, while shame and fear make reporting difficult.

For Zara, the threat of being exposed to her family was enough to keep her quiet.

She feared that revealing what had happened could lead to restrictions on her education and freedom.

“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.”

Silence remains one of the biggest barriers

The UNICEF research found that more than half of children who experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse did not tell anyone.

None of the children surveyed reported their experience through formal channels such as police, social workers or helplines.

UNICEF identified stigma, victim-blaming, fear of family repercussions and a lack of trust in authorities among the barriers preventing children from seeking help.

That silence also makes it harder to understand the full scale of the problem.

The 1.5 million figure therefore should not be read as a count of all Pakistani children experiencing online abuse. It is an estimate of internet-using children aged 12 to 17 who experienced at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse during the study period.

Social media and gaming are part of a wider digital risk

Social media platforms accounted for 44 per cent of reported instances of abuse in the Pakistani research, making them the most frequently identified digital environment.

But the problem extends beyond social networking sites.

Gaming platforms and private messaging can also provide opportunities for offenders to establish contact with children.

UNICEF's findings point to increasingly complex forms of abuse, including sexual extortion, blackmail and the creation of sexually abusive material using artificial intelligence.

That means simply telling children not to speak to strangers online may not be enough.

The person making the approach may already be someone they know.

Pakistan has laws, but protection gaps remain

Pakistan already has legislation covering several forms of technology-facilitated abuse.

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act includes offences relating to online grooming and solicitation of minors. The law also addresses the production, distribution and possession of sexually explicit material involving minors. Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency lists the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and its subsequent amendments among the laws governing cybercrime investigations.

But UNICEF says important gaps remain.

Its latest report points to weaknesses in the way children are interviewed and supported after abuse. Pakistani law does not require forensic interviews of children to be systematically conducted by specially trained professionals, UNICEF says, raising concerns about the possibility of children experiencing further distress during investigations.

The report also notes that the law continues to use the term “child pornography” for child sexual abuse material, terminology UNICEF says can obscure the fact that such material documents the abuse and exploitation of children.

Punjab pushes for under-16 social media restrictions

The findings come as Pakistan debates how far government regulation should go in protecting children online.

On September 1, the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution calling for a legal ban on social media accounts for children under 16, subject to parental or guardian consent and reliable age verification.

The resolution also called for social media companies to strengthen child-protection measures and for federal and provincial authorities to coordinate their response.

The proposal has also attracted criticism from digital rights advocates, who have questioned whether such restrictions would be enforceable and whether children could bypass them through tools such as VPNs.

The debate highlights a difficult question: whether protecting children is best achieved by restricting access, strengthening age verification, making platforms safer or improving reporting and support systems — or through a combination of those measures.

UNICEF's latest report places responsibility across the system, calling for action from governments, law enforcement agencies, justice and social services, families, schools and technology companies.

For children like Zara, however, the issue is more immediate than policy debates.

An online conversation that begins with a game, a message or a friendship can quickly become a source of fear.

And when the threat of shame or punishment feels greater than the hope of receiving help, silence can become the child's only perceived escape.

“I live in fear,” Zara said.

About the Author

Maureen Onyango is a journalist passionate about storytelling, life coaching and spiritual lessons. She studied at the Kenya Institute of Management and enjoys telling stories that inform, inspire and empower communities.