Islamabad, March 16 At least 3,630 cases of child abuse were reported across Pakistan in 2025, representing an 8 per cent increase from the previous year, according to data released by a non-profit organization on Monday.
Sahil, an Islamabad-based organization that monitors violence against children and women, said in a statement that the cases were reported in 81 different newspapers from across the four provinces, as well as Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region.
“In the year 2025, a total of 3,630 cases of child abuse were reported in 81 different newspapers,” the organization stated.
It said that an analysis of gender distribution shows that out of the total reported cases of child abuse, 1,924 (53 per cent) were girls, 1,625 (47 per cent) were boys, and 116 cases involved newborn babies.
The data reveals that more than nine children were abused each day in 2025.
The cases of child abuse have increased by 8 per cent (266 children) compared to 2024, it said.
Abduction was the most commonly reported category, with 1,107 cases, followed by sodomy with 596 cases and rape with 522.
Other reported categories included 365 cases of missing children, 195 cases of attempted rape, 141 cases of attempted sodomy, 130 cases of gang sodomy, 108 cases of gang rape, 58 cases of murder after sexual abuse, and 53 cases of child marriage.
According to the report, children aged between 11 and 15 were the most vulnerable to abuse, with more boys than girls affected in that age group.
It said that acquaintances were the most common category involved in child sexual abuse cases.
The Punjab province accounted for 73 per cent of the total reported child abuse cases, followed by Sindh with 21 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 4 per cent, and 2 per cent from Balochistan, federal areas, PoK and GB combined.
The organization also said that 82 per cent of the reported child abuse cases were registered with the police, which is a positive sign of active policing.
Sahil also released figures on violence against women, saying it had been monitoring such cases for the past two years.
It said that 7,071 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported across the country in 2025, covering categories including murder, suicide, abduction, rape, honour killing and torture. The total also included a small number of cases involving transgender people.
According to Sahil, the 2025 figures showed a 34 per cent rise in GBV cases.
The largest category was murder, with 1,546 cases, followed by 1,345 abductions and 1,169 cases of torture.
There were also 877 reported rape cases, 680 suicides, 449 cases of injury, 316 cases of harassment, 284 honour killings and 41 acid attacks.
The data showed that 32 per cent of abusers in GBV cases were acquaintances, 18 per cent were strangers, and 12 per cent were husbands, while in 20 per cent of cases, the abuser was not mentioned.
Punjab province accounted for 78 per cent of the total GBV cases reported in 2025, followed by Sindh with 14 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 6 per cent, and 2 per cent from Balochistan, ICT, PoK and GB combined.
Sahil has been working since 1996 on child protection, especially against child sexual abuse, according to the organization.