Nearly 1.5 million internet-using children in Pakistan experienced sexual exploitation or abuse enabled by digital technology in a single year, according to the study Disrupting Harm in Pakistan, published in September 2026 by Unicef, ECPAT International and INTERPOL. The findings were reported by Dawn on October 14, 2026, as a senior United Nations official warned that artificial intelligence is opening new avenues of danger for the children of the Muslim world and beyond.
The figure means roughly one in every 16 internet-using children aged 12 to 17 in Pakistan faced at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse over the span of a year. Najat Maalla M'jid, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Violence Against Children, presented her final report to the UN General Assembly on Monday, October 13, 2026, marking twenty years since the first UN global study on violence against children.
What the Pakistan Study Found
The abuses documented include unwanted sexual images or conversations, demands for intimate photographs, the non-consensual sharing of children's images, and sexual threats or blackmail. The UN General Assembly on Monday identified AI-generated sexual material as an emerging risk to children worldwide.
Perhaps the most sobering finding is that the threat does not come mainly from strangers hiding in the dark corners of the internet. In 85 per cent of incidents cited by children, the perpetrator was someone they already knew. Social media accounted for 44 per cent of reported instances of abuse, making it the most commonly reported digital setting.
Why Pakistani Children Stay Silent
Fear, stigma and possible repercussions at home often prevent children from seeking help. Victims may fear being blamed, humiliated or subjected to restrictions by their families. Boys, too, risk being overlooked because of social expectations about masculinity and the reluctance to discuss sexual abuse.
Unicef says more than half of the children who experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse did not tell anyone. None of the children surveyed reported their experiences through formal channels such as helplines, social workers or the police.
These numbers should stir the conscience of every Pakistani household. Our children are the amanat, the sacred trust, placed in our hands, and a society that cannot shield its youngest from predators forfeits something of its own soul.
AI and the New Frontier of Danger
Ms M'jid warned that rapid advances in technology are creating new risks alongside opportunities for children to learn and communicate. Artificial intelligence has opened what she described as