Every child has an absolute right to grow up safe; safe at home, at school, in the community and increasingly, in the digital world.
Violence, abuse, exploitation or neglect of a child can never be dismissed as a private matter, a social custom or an unfortunate circumstance. When a child is harmed, society has failed in its most basic duty of care.
Across the world, children continue to face physical and sexual violence, trafficking, forced labour, child marriage, exploitation and abuse online. The United Nations has repeatedly warned that violence against children remains widespread, yet preventable, and that protecting children requires political will, strong institutions and sustained action.
In Pakistan, this responsibility is especially urgent. Recent evidence concerning online exploitation of children reminds us that threats to childhood are evolving rapidly. Technology must expand children’s opportunities, education and knowledge; it must never become a doorway through which predators enter their lives.
Child protection therefore cannot begin only after a tragedy has occurred. It must begin with prevention: with informed parents, safe schools, trained teachers, responsive police and social services, stronger protection mechanisms, responsible digital platforms, and communities willing to speak when they see a child at risk.
And where a crime against a child has occurred, there must be no silence, stigma or protection for the perpetrator.
A frightened child must be heard.
A harmed child must be protected.
A survivor must be treated with dignity.
And an offender must face the law.
Children should never have to prove that they deserve our protection. Their age and vulnerability impose that responsibility upon all of us.
I strongly believe that Pakistan must continue strengthening a child-protection system in which prevention, reporting, investigation, rehabilitation and justice work together; where children and families know where to seek help; and where institutions respond swiftly, sensitively and without subjecting survivors to further trauma.
We must also listen to children themselves. Their fears, experiences and voices must inform the policies that affect their lives. Protecting childhood is not an act of charity. It is a matter of rights, justice and the kind of nation we choose to become.
I call upon government institutions, provincial authorities, law-enforcement agencies, schools, civil society, religious and community leaders, the media, technology companies and, above all, families to make the protection of our children a shared national responsibility.
There can be no stronger investment in Pakistan’s future than protecting the child who will inherit it.
Our children deserve more than our sympathy after they are harmed. They deserve our vigilance before harm reaches them, our protection when they are threatened, and justice when their rights are violated.
That must be our promise to every child of Pakistan.
