Islamabad, Oct 21 (IANS) The crisis of systematic rights violations against Christian girls and women in Pakistan was discussed during a recent UN conference. Human rights organisation Jubilee Campaign organised the event titled ‘Human Rights in Pakistan (Addressing Forced Conversions and Child Marriage in Pakistan)’ at the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG), a report has detailed.
The event was moderated by Communication Associate of the Jubilee Campaign (JC), Hilda Farmington, and the panel included Joseph Jansen from the Jubilee Campaign, Professor Nicholas Levrat, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, and Christophe Foltzenlogel, Advocacy Officer of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ).
During the event, the speakers spoke about the kidnapping, forced religious conversion and marriage of girls in Pakistan, especially those belonging to Christian and Hindu minority communities. Farmington mentioned that around 1,000 girls are forcibly converted or kidnapped each year, while emphasising that the actual number could be higher, Turkey-based journalist Uzay Bulut’s wrote in PJ Media.
During the event, the parents of Amber Nadeem, Maria Shahbaz, and Sataish Mariam spoke about the disappearance of their daughters and the difficulties they faced in lodging complaints and not getting relief from courts in Pakistan.
The families voiced concerns about delays by police and in judicial proceedings, and the vulnerability of minors placed in the custody of the kidnappers and urged the international community to intervene for the return of the daughters.
Nicolas Levrat described forced conversions and marriage as a serious problem that impacts religious minorities. He voiced concern over the lack of implementation of legal provisions that address forced conversion and child protection in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan has the responsibility to implement its own human rights obligations, with international support only when required, the report in PJ Media mentioned.
A legal expert and jurist who specialises in international human rights law, Christophe Foltzenlogel, said that Pakistan already has several legal safeguards about child protection, religious freedom and child marriage, however, the existing laws have not been implemented.
Joseph Johnson said that his organisation has documented 210 cases from 2019-2025 and made a presentation titled ‘Stolen Girls’ which revealed that Punjab and Sindh reported majority of the documented cases. He said that victims in the cases were below the legal age of marriage and that the kidnappers were majorly older. He stated that police initially refused to lodge complaints in some cases and weaknesses in police and judicial processes facilitate continued violations.
Last month, a leading minority rights organisation raised grave concern over the abduction, forced conversion and marriage of two minor Hindu sisters in Pakistan’s Sindh province, saying the case has exposed the persistent threats faced by Hindu girls across the country.
According to Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), the family alleged that Roopi and Seeta, aged 13 and 14, were abducted from Ibrahim Colony in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar district, forcibly converted to Islam and compelled to marry two Muslim men, Amjad Solangi and Mansoor Solangi.
Citing reports, the rights body said authorities presented the girls before a court in Tando Allahyar in connection with an abduction case. It said the court subsequently sent the sisters to a safe house instead of immediately returning them to their family.
–IANS
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