Introduction: A Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
Time and time again we are reminded that sexual abuse and gender-based violence is prevalent in Pakistan. Multiple reports a week are surfacing about children and women being assaulted and killed. According to the UNFPA Pakistan Country Profile:
- 28% of women aged 15–49 have experienced physical violence, and 6% have experienced sexual violence
- 34% of ever-married women report having faced spousal physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
- Over 16,000 rape cases were officially reported nationwide between 2021 and 2024 (Ministry of Human Rights)
Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in Pakistan: Key Statistics
National data compiled by the prominent child-protection NGO Sahil recorded 1,914 cases of child abuse in the first six months of 2026 alone — averaging nearly 11 children abused every day. Out of these, 1,015 were specifically categorized as child sexual abuse.
Children between the ages of 11 and 15 represent the most vulnerable demographic. In terms of gender breakdown, girls constitute roughly 53% to 58% of victims, though boys remain highly targeted.
A comprehensive UNICEF Pakistan report released in September 2026 revealed that nearly 6% of internet-using children in Pakistan aged 12–17 — amounting to approximately 1.5 million minors — were subjected to at least one form of tech-facilitated sexual exploitation, such as blackmail or AI-generated abuse, over the preceding year.
While the majority of documented CSA victims are girls, boys constitute a massive percentage of total reported abuse cases. Annual and biannual reporting by the child welfare NGO Sahil provides the most consistent metrics. In multi-year data aggregates compiled by Sahil (including evaluations from 2023 through 2025), boys account for 46% to 47% of all recorded child abuse cases. A striking demographic trend in child protection tracking shows that within the 6-to-15 and 11-to-15 age brackets, more boys are reported as victims of abuse than girls.
Independent academic and regional surveys mirror these findings. For instance, localized surveys targeting school-going children in the Rawalpindi and Islamabad sectors found that roughly 1 in 5 boys had survived forms of child sexual abuse.
Human rights organizations have long flagged specific cultural practices, such as Bacha Bazi in northwestern regions, and the extreme vulnerability of homeless street children — with documentaries and field studies estimating that up to 90% of male street minors have faced sexual exploitation.
- 1,914 cases of child abuse recorded by Sahil in the first six months of 2026 alone — nearly 11 children abused every day; 1,015 were categorized as child sexual abuse
- Girls constitute roughly 53% to 58% of child abuse victims; children aged 11–15 are the most vulnerable
- UNICEF Pakistan: nearly 6% of internet-using children aged 12–17 (about 1.5 million minors) faced tech-facilitated sexual exploitation, including blackmail or AI-generated abuse, in the past year
- Boys account for 46% to 47% of all recorded child abuse cases in Sahil’s multi-year data (2023–2025)
- Roughly 1 in 5 boys in Rawalpindi and Islamabad school surveys had survived child sexual abuse
- Up to 90% of male street minors have faced sexual exploitation, per field studies on street children and Bacha Bazi
Underreporting: The Hidden Scale of Abuse
The problem in Pakistan is not only that these cases happen at an alarming rate — it is that the majority of cases are completely unreported. A staggering 70 percent of sexual and gender-based violence goes unreported in Pakistan. The numbers presented above might only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many rape cases happen in Pakistan. Regional human rights aggregates tracking broader gender-based offenses consistently show that roughly 70 percent of all incidents are actively concealed.
Multi-agency data, including data published by UNFPA Pakistan, indicates that 56% of women who experience physical or sexual violence never seek help or speak to anyone about the incident.
Survivors face immense community pressure to resolve violations through local informal panchayats (village councils) rather than entering the legal system.
The disparity is most severe regarding spousal violations. While global tracking warns that intimate partner sexual violence is highly prevalent, only a single case of marital rape has ever been formally documented in Pakistan’s legal history, due to the absolute social taboo of reporting a spouse.
Leading indicators, such as the Cruel Numbers reports published by the NGO Sahil, are heavily derived from tracking monitored print and digital media reports. When an incident is prominent enough to hit the media, police tracking catches up: 82% to 93% of the cases that actually make it into the news are successfully registered by the police.
Child welfare monitors note that for every single case that reaches the media or police, dozens more are buried within families. Because approximately 50% of perpetrators are close family members or acquaintances, households heavily suppress reporting to safeguard family “honor” or avoid social ruin.
The estimated unreported rate for adult male sexual assault is effectively near 100%. Because same-sex acts are criminalized under the Pakistan Penal Code, any adult male attempting to report a sexual assault by another man risks immediate counter-prosecution or severe social exile, keeping this demographic completely uncounted in official metrics.
While child protection groups catch cases involving young boys, thousands of incidents involving street children and child laborers remain entirely unrecorded, as these populations lack the legal agency or family representation required to file a police report.
- 70% of sexual and gender-based violence goes unreported in Pakistan
- 56% of women who experience physical or sexual violence never seek help or tell anyone (UNFPA)
- Only a single case of marital rape has ever been formally documented in Pakistan’s legal history
- 82% to 93% of cases that reach the media are successfully registered by police
- Roughly 50% of perpetrators are close family members or acquaintances
- The unreported rate for adult male sexual assault is effectively near 100%
Rape Culture: Blaming the Victim
When these cases surface in the media, when we hear the news of another victim assaulted, tortured, raped, or killed, we demand to know where the parents were. Where was the family? When we hear the news of a woman murdered by her spouse or in-laws, we demand to know who got her married to that man. When we hear of a woman who got raped, we demand: what was she wearing? Why was she where she wasn’t supposed to be? What allows this to repeatedly happen in Pakistan?
Rape culture is a sociological concept used to describe an environment where sexual violence is widespread, normalized, and excused by prevalent social attitudes, media representations, and cultural norms. It describes a culture that breeds the possibility of rape.
The questions the media asks about the circumstances under which the rape took place, and the questions about the victim and the victim’s family, facilitate this culture. The focus of a sexual assault investigation or social discussion shifts from the actions of the perpetrator to the behavior of the survivor. Questions center on what the victim was wearing, whether they were drinking, why they were out late, or why they trusted the attacker. Questioning the victim shifts blame away from the rapist.
Within our homes, small examples of this are an everyday occurrence. In domestic disputes, the victim is often asked:
“Why did you answer if you knew he was angry?”
“Why did you bring up that topic?”
“What did you do to make him angry?”
And the most common: “You should have stayed silent.”
All of these questions facilitate a culture of silence, of stillness. They breed a mentality of cause and effect — the belief that the victim must have done something to warrant aggression, even in circumstances where one party is harmed by the other. Then, when the worst happens, when the statistic goes up, when we grieve another helpless person, we ask, “Why didn’t the victim tell anyone?”
We also demand that rapists be hanged, that they be given the death penalty. We demand capital justice, but in so many ways we let smaller behavior within our homes go. We are perfectly fine accepting that our daughters will be stared at and catcalled when they go out — we accept, as a culture, that this is a given when women leave their homes, so we bundle them in shawls, dupattas, and burqas.
Everyday Harassment and the Safety Gap for Women
Studies show that the overwhelming majority of women in Pakistan experience intense discomfort in public spaces due to persistent staring, catcalling, and street harassment.
A recent global tracking poll analyzed by Gallup Pakistan highlighted a stark gender gap in mobility. While 71% of Pakistani men feel confident walking alone at night in their neighborhoods, nearly half of all Pakistani women (47%) explicitly disagree and feel unsafe venturing out alone.
Similarly, a dedicated national poll conducted by the Gilani Research Foundation via Gallup Pakistan revealed that 1 in 5 women nationwide (21%) state they frequently feel deeply uncomfortable and awkward due to inappropriate male gazes in public.
The same foundational Gallup research revealed that 1 in 4 urban Pakistani women (25%) have been actively followed or stalked by men while walking to their homes, workplaces, or local markets.
With total societal acceptance of such behavior, when it escalates to a much more violent scale, we suddenly demand justice through capital punishment over the loss of lives.
- 71% of men feel confident walking alone at night vs. 47% of women who feel unsafe doing so (Gallup Pakistan)
- 1 in 5 women (21%) frequently feel uncomfortable due to inappropriate male gazes in public
- 1 in 4 urban women (25%) have been followed or stalked while out in public
Pornography Consumption and the Absence of Sex Education
Pakistan also has very high rates of pornography viewership. Statistics indicate that pornography consumption is very high in Pakistan, despite strict legal bans, government filtering, and a deeply conservative social environment where the topic is heavily tabooed.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), official regulatory data reveals that there are approximately 20 million daily attempts from within Pakistan to access pornographic websites.
A quantitative research study published in the Journal of Society and Strategic Development found that 72% of Pakistani young adults consume pornographic material on a daily or weekly basis.
Data analyses popularized by Google Trends frequently placed Pakistan at or near the top of global per-capita search queries for specific adult keywords.
Talking about rape in Pakistan is a tall order; even discussing sex education is considered taboo. With no formal sex education, young men heavily rely on pornography as their primary source of information regarding intimacy, creating unrealistic and often harmful expectations.
When even discussing sex education, or consensual sex between a man and a woman, is taboo, how can the silence surrounding sexual violence faced by a powerless victim be questioned?
- Approximately 20 million daily attempts are made from within Pakistan to access pornographic websites (PTA)
- 72% of Pakistani young adults consume pornographic material daily or weekly (Journal of Society and Strategic Development)
Legal Framework: Progressive Laws, Poor Enforcement
Furthermore, legal, judicial, and law enforcement systems make it exceedingly difficult, traumatic, or dangerous for a survivor to report a crime. When conviction rates for sexual offenses are near zero, the state implicitly signals that sexual violence carries no real consequences.
The legal system in Pakistan treats sexual and domestic violence victims through a severe contradiction: while progressive, survivor-centric laws exist on paper, actual institutional implementation remains deeply flawed and hostile.
The primary framework governing sexual assault is the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021, which explicitly mandates protections designed to preserve the victim’s dignity.
Amendments have expanded the legal definition of rape under the Pakistan Penal Code to be completely gender-neutral, extending identical statutory protections to women, men, minors, and transgender individuals.
After another case hits the screen, we are bombarded with images of the victim and their family; we learn their names and professions, or their parents’ professions — when, in fact, the media is legally prohibited from publishing the identity, names, or photos of victims.
Despite these laws, structural execution is highly deficient. DNA testing facilities are scarce outside major metropolitan hubs. Furthermore, while certain legal aid non-profits highlight localized improvements in conviction rates within specialized trial environments, high-level legislative data presented to the Senate of Pakistan confirms that the overall national conviction rate for rape still stands at a dismal 0.5% to 5%.
- National conviction rate for rape: just 0.5% to 5% (Senate of Pakistan)
Domestic Violence Law: Rights on Paper, Barriers in Practice
Under the current legal text, domestic violence is no longer restricted to physical battery. The law explicitly penalizes emotional harm, verbal abuse, psychological distress, and economic exploitation (such as restricting a spouse’s access to money or household assets). Specific offenses include threats of arbitrary divorce or an unauthorized second marriage. Penalties include up to three years in prison and fines reaching 100,000 PKR.
Victims have the legal right to apply for Protection Orders and Residence Orders. These court mandates legally prohibit an abuser from approaching the victim, forbid them from evicting the victim from the shared marital home, and force the abuser to pay monetary relief for medical expenses.
Lower courts and family magistrates heavily favor marital reconciliation over criminal prosecution. A Supreme Court ruling explicitly clarified that domestic abuse does not require visible physical marks to be prosecuted; yet local police stations routinely refuse to register First Information Reports (FIRs) for domestic violence, advising victims to “compromise” with their abusers.
As reported by the Senate of Pakistan, the conviction rate for documented domestic abuse remains exceptionally low, sitting at roughly 1.3% nationwide.
- Domestic violence penalties: up to 3 years in prison and fines up to 100,000 PKR
- National conviction rate for documented domestic abuse: roughly 1.3% (Senate of Pakistan)
Boys: The Forgotten Victims of Sexual Abuse
Boys are the forgotten victims of sexual assault in Pakistan. Data tracking the exact number of boys sexually abused specifically by teachers or adults highlights a severe crisis, though institutional numbers are heavily guarded.
Sadly, young men and boys often brag about being sexually involved with female adults, mostly their teachers. The culture around masculinity does not allow them to see themselves as victims.
Within the critical early-adolescent age demographic of 11 to 15 years old, data reveals that more boys are reported as victims of abuse than girls.
Society teaches boys from a young age that they must be protectors. Admitting to being sexually violated by an adult forces a boy to confront a reality in which he was powerless. To avoid being viewed as “weak,” “unmanly,” or broken, many boys subconsciously reject the identity of a victim entirely.
Just as with girls, a boy’s victimization can bring immense social shame (badnami) to a family. Boys often stay silent to shield their parents from public humiliation, community exile, or retaliatory violence between families.
Abusers often use grooming — giving the boy extra attention, gifts, academic favors, or responsibilities. The boy may view the adult as a mentor or father figure, causing him to confuse the abusive behavior with affection or a “special bond.”
In comprehensive tracking data reviewed by the Pakistan Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, it was revealed that out of total institutionally reported child abuse complaints, 53% of all institutional complaints were lodged specifically against religious teachers or clerics.
The same institutional committee data noted that 43% of these complaints involved male minors as the primary victims of the abuse.
The Pakistan Penal Code historically criminalizes same-sex acts under colonial-era laws; reporting an assault risks exposing the victim to legal scrutiny regarding his own sexuality. Abusers frequently tell boys that if they speak out, they will be the ones arrested for homosexual behavior or public indecency. This fear of legal ruin keeps the reporting rate among older adolescent boys effectively at zero.
- 53% of institutionally reported child abuse complaints were lodged against religious teachers or clerics
- 43% of these complaints involved male minors as the primary victims
The Hidden Crisis of Female-Perpetrated Abuse
While the overwhelming majority of documented student-teacher abuse cases in Pakistan involve male perpetrators (such as schoolteachers or religious clerics), cases involving female abusers do happen. However, they are hidden behind unique layers of cultural denial, legal gaps, and gender double standards.
There is a myth of the “fortunate” male victim. The biggest barrier to identifying female-on-male grooming is the pervasive cultural myth that young boys or young men cannot be victimized by women.
In a highly patriarchal society, male sexual desire is often depicted as aggressive and always present. When a female teacher targets a male student, peers, family members, and even the victim himself may mistakenly view it as a “rite of passage” or a consensual conquest rather than statutory rape and manipulation.
Organizations in Pakistan that track child abuse, like Sahil, record high metrics for male minor victims, but the gender of the perpetrator is overwhelmingly reported as male. Because families almost never file a First Information Report (FIR) against a woman for abusing a boy, there is virtually no statistical baseline for this specific dynamic.
For a young man or boy in Pakistan, going to a police station to report that he was forced or manipulated into a sexual relationship by a woman is socially paralyzing. He faces an extreme risk of being mocked by law enforcement, blamed by his family, or accused of initiating the behavior himself.
Because boys are socialized to believe they must always be in control, admitting that they were manipulated, groomed, and sexually exploited by a woman feels like a total destruction of their masculinity. To survive the confusion and trauma, many male students will mentally reframe the abuse as a consensual relationship, completely blocking out the reality that they were taken advantage of by an adult in a position of trust.
Conclusion: Confronting Ghairat and Honour Culture
In this way, before we are appalled at the rising number of sexual and gender-based crimes, we ignore how the culture of ghairat (honor) — of female virtue and male strength that we worship so much — is a breeding ground for such behavior.
