Over 1.5 Million Children in Pakistan Face Online Harassment, UNICEF Warns

ISLAMABAD: Over 1.5 million children in Pakistan have fallen victim to online sexual harassment and digital exploitation, according to alarming findings highlighted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), exposing an acute safeguarding crisis across the country’s rapidly expanding cyberspace.

The staggering statistic reflects escalating vulnerabilities confronting minors in an era of surging smartphone accessibility, widespread internet penetration, and inadequate parental supervision. Child welfare experts noted that online grooming, non-consensual content sharing, extortion, and targeted cyberbullying are rampant across major social platforms, leaving vulnerable youngsters exposed to predatory networks while dealing with profound psychological trauma in silence.

The disclosure has ignited widespread alarm among human rights activists, legal observers, and mental health professionals, who point to structural deficiencies within Pakistan’s current child protection framework. The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) continue to face hurdles in monitoring decentralized platforms, prosecuting perpetrators, and offering timely support to distress callers, often hindered by societal stigma and reporting hesitancy.

In response to the figures, international bodies and local advocacy groups are pressing federal and provincial authorities to institutionalize dedicated digital safety curricula in educational institutions, establish swift victim-support hotlines, and tighten penal mechanisms against online predators to secure digital spaces for the nation’s youth.