perspective- child protection

Juvenile Offenders in Punjab

The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal institutes and jails of Punjab province was 645 as on 15 March 2022 (Prisons Department, Govt. of Punjab). Out of the total number of juvenile offenders, 81% (523) juveniles were on trial (under trial) and 19% were convicted juvenile offenders. All juvenile offenders were male and no female…

Permitted age for employment of children as domestic workers

Do you know what the minimum age is for children in the different provinces of Pakistan to be employed as domestic workers? Child labour is a provincial subject in Pakistan after the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved the issue of labour and employment to the…
child marriage

Ending Child Marriages

THE Punjab Assembly’s committee approval of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2026, is a welcome and necessary step. By setting 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage for both genders, the province moves to correct a long-standing imbalance and protect children from a practice that has scarred generations. The…
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Selling Newborns

Human life should never be a commodity. Yet across the country, networks exist that buy and sell newborn babies, exploiting women driven into secrecy and desperation. A recent raid in Sheikham near Sarai Mughal, located in Kasur district of Punjab, uncovered a clinic that allegedly handled deliveries of vulnerable women…
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child abuse

Normalising Abuse

There is something deeply wrong with how easily Pakistan has learned to absorb horrific news. Sahil, an organisation working towards developing an environment free from child abuse and neglect, has recently released figures revealing that 3,630 cases of child abuse were reported in 2025, which is an 8 percent rise…
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Counting Children

FIRST the good news: on Feb 21, 2026, Sindh carried out its first real-time digital birth registrations of four newborns at public teaching hospitals — a long-awaited move towards reducing bureaucracy and improving archaic processes. The first paperless registrations were accomplished under a digital framework that integrated these hospitals with Nadra’s…
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AI and the Child

Artificial intelligence is quietly shaping a generation’s thinking. Children are increasingly using AI tools to answer questions, complete assignments and tackle problems that once required reflection and research. What appears to be efficiency may also be altering the way thinking itself develops. This shift is unfolding within a generation shaped…
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Violence Is Not Strength

Mardangi, or masculinity, is frequently misunderstood in Pakistan. Instead of being associated with sensitivity, accountability, or respect, it is often linked to domination, repression and manipulation. Acts of violence, intimidation or assault against women are wrongly justified as expressions of mardangi. This misinterpretation is dangerous. We must be clear and…
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Children in Conflict with the Law: A Theoretical Perspective

What do we mean when we call someone a “juvenile delinquent”? Is it merely a legal label, or does it reflect deeper social anxieties about youth, morality, and order? In legal terms, a juvenile is a person under the age of eighteen. Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal or deviant acts…
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Unprotected Domestic Workers

Domestic workers in Sindh are some of the most sought-after yet oppressed people in the region. Constantly flouted labour laws have resulted in a cemented culture of child labour practice, inhumane working hours, meagre pay that more often than not misses the minimum wage mark, as well as disputes that…
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Easier CNIC Access

NADRA’S decision to issue CNICs to first-time applicants without requiring them to produce a birth certificate is a practical step. For years, the lack of a computerised birth certificate issued by local governments, especially in rural and underserved districts, has kept thousands of citizens, mostly women, from obtaining a national…
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When Tradition Becomes Deadly

PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: Every now and then, some isolated case of honour killings makes its way to the media. However, beyond individual tragedies lies a bleak national picture, where family forgiveness, judicial delays, and weaknesses in law enforcement allow innocents to continue being killed in the name of honour. Honour…
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