Children of today are the future of any nation. Yet in Pakistan, children, rather than being rescued, are often treated as adult criminals. As of January, 2025, over 1,850 juvenile prisoners were imprisoned across the whole country, while female juvenile prisoners constituted 0.7% of the total figure.
This figure only seems to be rising gradually over time. Additionally, the figures from prison studies of November 2024 show that the country’s prisons were operating at 163.1% capacity, which has led to overcrowding and poor living conditions.
Children need to be seen as individuals in need of dire help, those who need to be rescued and helped rather than being seen as criminals. Most of the children are marred by ills like poverty, tragic pasts and abuse. There is a plethora of reasons for juvenile imprisonment in Pakistan; the first and foremost is poverty.
According to the macro poverty outlook by the World Bank, the high inflation led to the poverty rate of 40.5% in the fiscal year 2024 and 2.6 million citizens falling below the poverty line. Many children are forced to work at an early age rather than pick books for studying and attend school. this factor has deprived them of earning a decent living in the future and according to statistics, most of the juvenile offenders come from poor backgrounds.
Many juvenile offenders end up in prison, as they often come from dysfunctional
families, there is a lack of parental supervision on the content they consume from internet and abusive environments tend to set them up towards a path of criminal activities. Furthermore, Pakistan’s legal system often fails to differentiate between juvenile and adult offenders.
According to the Juvenile act of 2018, it states that children under 18 must not be treated as adult criminals but there is no rigorous implementation of the law. There can be severe consequences of juvenile imprisonment. Social stigma can cause struggling
for children to reintegrate into society, find jobs or even continue their education.
Numerous educational institutes or workplaces require a police clearance certificate and without any proper rehabilitation, these children can be on the brink of reoffending. This is where Paigham-e-Pakistan can play a crucial role in promoting rehabilitation, de-radicalisation and reintegration of the children into the society.
In order to address these challenges and pave the way for a better future, the state needs to ensure a stringent implementation of the juvenile justice laws and as it currently lacks adequate remand homes, the government of the state needs to focus on establishing functional juvenile correction centres with proper education and counselling and providing them with skill-training programmes which can prepare them for what’s to come in the future.
Although, reforming the laws and providing education might not be enough. There needs to be a reformative approach and efforts must be made through awareness programs in underprivileged areas to enhance knowledge and strengthen family bonds, while the government must provide essential support to at risk children to ensure their
wellbeing and future stability.
Community support initiatives can also play a pivotal role in preventing juvenile delinquency. Children are the architects of every nation’s tomorrow and to build a prosperous society, it is imperative to invest in rehabilitation, education and emotional well-being.
