New data released by Sahil, a non-governmental organization that monitors reported violence against women and children, says 3,630 child abuse cases were recorded across Pakistan in 2025, 8% higher than the number reported the year prior.
In a press release, the NGO said the recorded cases were reported in 81 different newspapers from across Pakistan, comprising all four provinces, the Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. It said newspapers recorded 266 more cases in 2025 compared to those recorded in 2024.
According to the available data, girls accounted for 1,924 cases, or 53% of victims, while boys made up 1,625 cases, or 47%. Another 116 cases involved newborn babies. It said, on average, more than nine children were abused daily during 2025.
Sahil said the major crime categories were abduction (1,107 cases); sodomy (596 cases); rape (522 cases); missing children (365 cases); attempt of rape (195 cases); attempt of sodomy (141); gang sodomy (130 cases); gang-rape (108 cases); murder after sexual abuse (58 cases); and child marriage (53 cases).
The report said recorded data suggested children aged between 11 and 15 years old were the most vulnerable to abuse, with more boys than girls affected in that age group. It warned that acquaintances remained the abuser’s category most commonly involved in child sexual abuse cases.
The geographical divide states Punjab accounted for 73% of total reported child abuse cases; Sindh 21%; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 4%; and Balochistan, federal areas, AJK and GB combined accounting for 2%. Positively, said the NGO, 82% of reported child abuse cases were registered with police, suggesting active policing.
On violence against women, Sahil said 7,071 cases of gender-based violence were reported from across Pakistan in 2025, a 34% rise from the year prior. The cases comprised murder (1,546); abduction (1,345); torture (1,169); rape (877); suicide (680); injuries (449); harassment (316); honor-killing (284); and acid attacks (41).
Similar to the data for child abuse, 32% of abusers in gender-based violence cases were acquaintances; 18% were strangers; and 12% were husbands. In 20% of cases, the abuser was not identified.
Punjab accounted for 78% of the total reported cases in 2025, followed by Sindh with 14%, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 6%, and 2% from Balochistan, ICT, AJK and GB combined.