Child Protection Data

This article argues for the need of systematic data, not only for recognition of child protection issues, but also for formulation and implementation of policy and practice responses in Pakistan. Through a systematic review of the newspaper coverage of child protection issues over a period of 20 years, the actual and potential risks to children are highlighted, thus, providing a methodological justification to use newspapers coverage as a record of child protection problems. Further, with its focus on the language and content of the coverage, this article shows how representation of child protection issues in the print media reflect the existing reality on the one hand, and on the other may affect people’s perceptions of these issues.