Islamabad: Pakistan’s failure to protect women and children is once again under scrutiny as a series of horrifying cases expose the scale of violence, abuse and alleged institutional failure across the country.
From the alleged sexual assault and death of an 18-month-old girl to the disappearance of a five-year-old child and the death of a woman who had reportedly complained of domestic abuse, the cases paint a deeply disturbing picture. Behind them lies an even more alarming figure: 3,172 cases of gender-based violence were recorded in Pakistan during the first six months of 2026, according to NGO Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers Report.
The figures raise a fundamental question: how safe are women and children in a country where violence can occur in homes, within families and even among people victims know and trust?
18-Month-Old Girl Dies After Alleged Sexual Violence
In Karachi, 18-month-old Aizal died after allegedly being subjected to sexual violence. According to police, a teenage relative allegedly took the child from her home.
The girl was later returned to her family in a critical condition and subsequently died. Police said the medical report was consistent with alleged sexual violence. The suspect was later sent to judicial custody.
The case is particularly horrifying because of the victim’s age. It also raises serious questions about whether existing safeguards are capable of protecting children from those within their own circle of trust.
Five-Year-Old Ayat Noor Still Missing
In Haripur, five-year-old Ayat Noor has been missing since 10 August, according to the report.
The disappearance has added to concerns over child safety in the area. Three children were reportedly reported missing from different parts of Haripur within a week, yet police have so far been unable to locate them.
For families, the disappearance of a young child is a nightmare. For the authorities, it should trigger an immediate and coordinated response. The inability to quickly trace missing children exposes serious questions about policing and child-protection mechanisms.
Woman Found Dead Amid Domestic Abuse Allegations
The case of Hina Javed in Rawalpindi raises equally troubling questions about domestic violence and the protection offered to women who report abuse.
Hina was found dead in the bathroom of her apartment. According to the report, her hands were allegedly tied, a cloth covered her mouth and a wire was wrapped around her neck.
Her brother claimed that Hina had previously told her family about physical and mental abuse allegedly inflicted by her husband.
That raises a stark question: what happens after a woman reports abuse?
If warnings and complaints are ignored until violence escalates into a fatal crime, then the system is failing at the most basic level — protecting a woman before it is too late.
3,172 Cases in Just Six Months
Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers Report provides a grim snapshot of gender-based violence in Pakistan.
The report recorded 3,172 cases during the first six months of 2026, including 18 cases involving transgender people.
The reported cases included:
644 murders
514 cases of torture
462 kidnappings
363 suicides
280 rapes
175 cases of injury
132 honour killings
21 other crimes, including harassment, gang rape and cases involving obscene material
The figures were compiled from incidents reported in national and regional newspapers across Pakistan.
Even these numbers may not represent the full scale of the crisis. In 71 per cent of cases, the victims’ ages were not recorded, highlighting major gaps in available data.
Young Women Among the Victims
Where ages were available, the figures showed that young people accounted for a substantial proportion of victims.
334 victims were aged between 21 and 30.
306 victims were aged between 11 and 20.
120 victims were aged between 31 and 40.
The absence of age information in most cases makes it harder to establish the full extent of violence against children and young women.
The Threat Often Comes From Someone Known
Perhaps one of the most disturbing findings is that alleged perpetrators were frequently not strangers.
According to the report, 27 per cent of accused persons were known to the victims, while 24 per cent were strangers. In around 13 per cent of cases, the accused were husbands. Information about the perpetrator was unavailable in 20 per cent of cases.
The message is stark: for many women and girls, danger may not come from an unknown person on the street, but from someone within their own circle.
The location of reported incidents makes the picture even darker. Fifty-four per cent occurred in the victims’ own homes, while another 12 per cent took place at the alleged perpetrators’ homes.
The home — supposedly a place of safety — was therefore the reported location of more than half of these cases.
Punjab Accounts for the Majority of Cases
Punjab accounted for 74 per cent of the reported cases, followed by Sindh with 17 per cent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 6 per cent.
Balochistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan together accounted for around 3 per cent.
According to the report, police complaints were filed in 76 per cent of cases. In around 23 per cent, the status of a police complaint was not specified, while 1 per cent were not reported to police.
But registering a complaint is only the beginning.
The real test is what happens afterwards: Are investigations conducted properly? Are suspects arrested? Are victims protected? Are cases prosecuted? And do survivors and families ultimately receive justice?
A Crisis That Demands Accountability
Pakistan is a party to major international human-rights agreements, including CEDAW, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ICCPR and the Convention Against Torture.
Yet the continuing reports of rape, murder, kidnapping, torture, honour killings and domestic violence raise uncomfortable questions about the gap between international commitments and realities on the ground.
The cases of Aizal, Ayat Noor and Hina Javed are not merely isolated tragedies. They point to a wider crisis of protection and accountability.
