Geneva, April 23 (IANS) The United Nations experts expressed serious concern over the continued and widespread abduction and forced religious conversion and marriages targeting women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan, warning that the climate of impunity fuels the relentless practice across the country.
“Any change of religion or belief must be genuinely free from coercion, and marriage must be based on full and free consent, which is not legally possible when the victim is a child,” the experts said.
Experts mentioned that in 2025, around 75 per cent of the women and girls affected by forced conversion through marriage in Pakistan were Hindus, while 25 per cent were Christians.
Nearly 80 per cent of incidents, they said, occurred in Pakistan’s Sindh province, with girls aged between 14 and 18 being particularly targeted and some cases involving younger victims.
According to the experts, women and girls facing poverty and marginalisation face heightened risks, and are often subjected to physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, social stigma and severe trauma.
“These women and girls endure a continuous sense of terror, face coercion and are deprived of their freedom of religion or belief and autonomy under patriarchal and political pressures. This must stop,” the experts stressed.
They noted that the scale and persistence of these grave human rights violations indicate systemic discrimination against non-Muslim women and girls across Pakistan who are coerced into converting to Islam to marry Muslim men.
Reiterating their appeal, the experts urged Pakistani authorities to intensify efforts to eradicate forced conversions, to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 in all provinces and territories, to criminalise forced religious conversion as a distinct offence and to enforce applicable laws pertaining to human trafficking and sexual violence.
The experts echoed the recommendations from several UN treaty bodies, urging a prompt investigation into all allegations impartially and effectively, while ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable.
“We are deeply concerned that law enforcement authorities often dismiss complaints lodged by victims’ families, fail to investigate or prosecute forced conversions in a timely manner, or neglect to properly assess the age of victims,” the experts said.
They further called on the Pakistani authorities to provide comprehensive, inclusive and gender-responsive support services for victims, including child-centric protection services such as safe shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling and reintegration programmes.
Raising an alarm, the experts said that the Pakistani government has not taken adequate measures to address the root causes of forced conversion through marriage, including gender inequality based on patriarchal norms, poverty, social exclusion, discrimination against minorities, religious intolerance and rampant impunity.
“Freedom of religion or belief and equality must be ensured for all without discrimination,” the experts stated.
–IANS
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