Pakistan, Oct. 10 -- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has launched a province-wide campaign against child sexual abuse and exploitation, bringing government departments, child-protection bodies, religious scholars, civil society and the media into an effort aimed at prevention, early identification and responsible reporting. The initiative is timely. However, it also raises an uncomfortable question for the rest of Pakistan: what happens after a child finds the courage to report abuse?

The scale of the problem allows little room for complacency. Sahil recorded 1,914 cases of child abuse reported in newspapers across Pakistan during the first six months of 2026. More than half involved sexual abuse. Nearly 45 per cent of the incidents took place in the...