Published: 08:23 PM, 25 March 2025 Last Update: 08:32 PM, 25 March 2025
Pakistan’s forgotten juveniles: The plight of children in prison
Pakistan’s juvenile justice system has long been marred by systemic failures, leaving countless children incarcerated under conditions that violate their fundamental rights.
Rather than being treated as victims of circumstance or rehabilitated as young offenders, these children are often processed and punished as adult criminals. This harsh reality has led to a generation of young detainees suffering from neglect, abuse, and a lack of access to proper legal representation.
The treatment of incarcerated children in Pakistan highlights the urgent need for reform in the country’s criminal justice system. Despite existing laws that mandate special protections for minors, the implementation remains weak, resulting in thousands of children languishing in prisons where they face inhumane conditions and legal discrimination.
Pakistan’s juvenile justice system is governed by the Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA) of 2018, which was designed to improve legal protections for minors. The law prohibits the death penalty for children, mandates separate juvenile courts, and calls for rehabilitation rather than punishment.
However, in practice, these provisions are rarely enforced, and many young offenders find themselves trapped in a system that does not differentiate between adults and children. According to reports by human rights organisations, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 children are currently behind bars in Pakistan.
A significant proportion of these minors are detained for minor offences such as petty theft, vagrancy, or loitering, yet they are often subjected to prolonged pretrial detention due to delays in the judicial process.
Many children spend months or even years in jail awaiting trial, denied the basic right to a timely hearing. Once inside, children face appalling conditions. Prisons in Pakistan are notoriously overcrowded, with occupancy rates often exceeding 130% of their intended capacity.
In these packed cells, minors are frequently housed alongside hardened adult criminals, putting them at severe risk of physical violence, exploitation, and even sexual abuse. Reports of torture, beatings by prison staff, and abuse from fellow inmates are not uncommon.
Many children suffer from malnutrition due to inadequate food provisions, while access to clean drinking water and basic healthcare remains limited. Psychological trauma is also widespread, with many young detainees experiencing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder due to their harsh environment.
One of the biggest injustices facing children in Pakistan’s prisons is the lack of proper legal representation. A large number of detained minors come from impoverished backgrounds, often illiterate and unaware of their legal rights. Without access to competent lawyers, these children become vulnerable to wrongful arrests and unfair trials.
Law enforcement agencies have been criticized for their heavy-handed approach to juvenile offenders. Police officers often fail to verify the ages of detainees, meaning many children are charged and tried as adults.
Additionally, there have been instances where minors are coerced into confessing to crimes they did not commit, subjected to brutal interrogation methods, or forced to pay bribes for their release. While the majority of incarcerated children are boys, girls face an even more harrowing ordeal.
Female juvenile offenders are often placed in facilities with adult women, exposing them to further exploitation. In conservative societies like Pakistan’s, the stigma attached to girls in prison often leads to their rejection by their own families upon release, leaving them with little hope for reintegration into society.
Cases of honour-based punishment have also been reported, where families refuse to take back daughters who have been imprisoned, fearing societal shame. As a result, many girls remain institutionalised for years, abandoned by their loved ones and forgotten by the legal system.
Poverty plays a crucial role in juvenile incarceration rates in Pakistan. Many children behind bars belong to economically disadvantaged families who lack the means to secure bail or hire legal counsel. Additionally, street children, child labourers, and members of marginalised communities are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement.
Without proper educational and social support, these children are more likely to fall into crime or be falsely accused due to their vulnerable status. Instead of addressing the root causes of juvenile delinquency—such as poverty, lack of education, and domestic abuse—the state continues to rely on incarceration as a solution, further perpetuating the cycle of deprivation and criminalisation.
Despite these grim realities, activists and legal experts continue to push for meaningful reforms in Pakistan’s juvenile justice system. The continued mistreatment of children in Pakistan’s prisons is not just a human rights violation—it is a failure of justice and governance. When young lives are subjected to cruelty rather than care, society as a whole suffers the consequences.
Instead of nurturing the next generation, Pakistan’s broken juvenile justice system is turning children into lifelong victims of institutional neglect and abuse. If meaningful reforms are not undertaken soon, the country risks further alienating its youth, pushing them toward a future filled with resentment, crime, and lost potential.
Every child deserves a chance at redemption, and it is the duty of the state to provide an environment where justice is not just a privilege for the powerful, but a right for all—including the most vulnerable.
As Pakistan grapples with its broader challenges, from political instability to economic hardship, it must not ignore the silent suffering of its youngest prisoners. Their fate is not only a reflection of the country’s justice system but also a test of its moral and ethical fabric.
The question remains: will Pakistan choose to rehabilitate its children, or will it continue to treat them as criminals before they even have a chance to live?
Written by: Md. Sajib Biswas (Journalist) [The views are personal]
