First Lady Stresses Collective Responsibility To Protect Children From Violence, Abuse
ISLAMABAD, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 11th Sep, 2026) First Lady Bibi Asifa Bhutto Zardari on Friday said that every child had an absolute right to grow up safe at home, school, in the community and increasingly, in the digital world.
In a statement on child protection, she noted that violence, abuse, exploitation or neglect of a child could never be dismissed as a private matter, social custom or an unfortunate circumstance.
“When a child is harmed, society has failed in its most basic duty of care,” she stated.
Asifa pointed out that children across the world continued to face physical and sexual violence, trafficking, forced labour, child marriage, exploitation and abuse online. She emphasized that the United Nations had warned of widespread yet preventable violence against children, adding that protecting them required political will, strong institutions, and sustained action.
“In Pakistan, this responsibility is especially urgent,” she said, referring to recent evidence of online exploitation of children which highlighted rapidly evolving threats to childhood.
The first lady emphasized that technology should expand children’s opportunities, education, and knowledge, and never become a gateway for predators. She advocated for child protection measures starting with prevention: informed parents, safe schools, trained teachers, responsive police, social services, stronger protection mechanisms, responsible digital platforms, and communities ready to speak up when they observe a child at risk.
She condemned any silence, stigma, or protection for perpetrators of crimes against children. “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,” she insisted.
Asifa argued that children should never have to prove their right to protection; their age and vulnerability impose that responsibility upon all. She called for Pakistan to strengthen a comprehensive child-protection system where prevention, reporting, investigation, rehabilitation, and justice work in harmony, with children and families knowing where to seek help and institutions responding swiftly and sensitively without causing further trauma to survivors.
She also emphasized the need to listen to children themselves, stating that their fears, experiences, and voices must shape policies affecting 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,” she concluded.
The first lady appealed to government institutions, provincial authorities, law-enforcement agencies, schools, civil society, religious and community leaders, the media, technology companies, and families to join forces in safeguarding Pakistan’s children.
