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Child abuse in Pakistan

Child abuse in Pakistan

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Pakistan ranks third in online child abuse.^[1][2][3] Child sexual abuse^[4] is often neglected in Pakistan.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]} The estimated child abuse in Pakistan is more than 12 per day,^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]} in which out of total reported cases of child abuse in Pakistan 2,325 victims were girls (55%) and 1,928 (45%) boys.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][20][33][22]}

164 cases of sexual abuse, 984 abductions, 201 missing children and 14 child marriage cases are reported.^[24]

In 2022 a total 4,253 cases of child abuse were reported, half of them were sexual abuse.^[19][20] In 2023, the total number of abuse victims was 2,227,^[20][21] more than half among them 54% were girls.^[19][20][21]

In a report named cruel numbers compiled by Sahil an NGO working in Pakistan on child protection and special focus on sexual abuse,^[22][24] a total number of 53 pornographic cases^[24] were reported in an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency, which was tracking activities on the dark web.^[19][34][22]

InSindh, the highest (483) number of cases of child abuse were reported,^[19][20][21] the second highest number of cases (233) were reported in Punjab.^[19][20][21] Poverty and inflation is a big factor in people sending their children to work, or selling them to people who use them as labor, sex slaves. A major obstacle is that child abuse has become common in Pakistan.^[35]

Pakistani parliament passed a new law against child abuse in 2020.^{[36][37][38][39]}

Domestic violence against children and child marriage in Pakistan has also been reported.^[40]

Cases of forced religion conversion of minor girls are also reported.^{[41][42][43][44][45][46]}

In August 2023, Fatima Phuriro,^[47] a minor girl was allegedly brutally tortured, raped in a Haweli of Pir's of Ranipur.^{[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][47][61]} Postmortem report confirmed the torture and rape.^[62] In a statement by the lawyer of Fatima Phuriro, Pir Asad Shah Jilani has been allegedly accused to sell out the live video of sexually abused child on the Dark web.^[19] Additional 7 captives including women and girls trapped in the Asad Shah's mansion were recovered by the Police.^[63][56]

Asad shah wife, Hina Shah, has also been nominated as co-accused in the FIR lodged by Fatima’s mother.^[64]

On January 9, 2018, minor girl Zainab Ansari was raped and murdered in her home town Kasur, Pakistan.^[21][65][66] In 2019, Nine-year-old Faizan Muhammad was raped and murdered in Kasur, Pakistan.^[67] Children are also raped in schools^[68] and in religious Madarassa of Pakistan by the clerks.^{[69][34][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79]}

Children are sexually abused at workplace^[80]

• Kasur child sexual abuse scandal