Islamabad, October 21, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Concerns over alleged systematic rights violations against Christian girls and women in Pakistan, including kidnapping, forced religious conversion and child marriage, were raised during a recent conference at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
The event, titled “Human Rights in Pakistan (Addressing Forced Conversions and Child Marriage in Pakistan),” was organised by human rights organisation Jubilee Campaign. The panel included Jubilee Campaign representatives Joseph Jansen and Hilda Farmington, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Nicolas Levrat and European Centre for Law and Justice advocacy officer Christophe Foltzenlogel.
Speakers discussed cases involving girls from Christian and Hindu minority communities and highlighted concerns over alleged failures in police investigations and judicial proceedings.
Farmington said around 1,000 girls are forcibly converted or abducted in Pakistan every year, while cautioning that the actual number could be higher.
The parents of Amber Nadeem, Maria Shahbaz and Sataish Mariam shared accounts of their daughters’ disappearances and the difficulties they allegedly faced in registering complaints and obtaining relief through courts. They also expressed concern over delays in police and judicial action and the vulnerability of minors allegedly placed in the custody of abductors.
Levrat described forced conversion and marriage as serious concerns affecting religious minorities and pointed to gaps in implementing existing legal protections for children and minorities. Foltzenlogel similarly said Pakistan had legal safeguards concerning child protection, religious freedom and child marriage, but their implementation remained a concern.
Jansen said Jubilee Campaign had documented 210 cases between 2019 and 2025, with Punjab and Sindh accounting for the majority. He said many victims were below the legal marriage age and alleged that police had initially refused to register complaints in some cases.
The discussion comes amid continuing concerns over the safety of minority girls. Last month, minority rights organisation Voice of Pakistan Minority raised concerns over the alleged abduction, forced conversion and marriage of two Hindu sisters, Roopi and Seeta, aged 13 and 14, in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar district.
The organisation said the sisters were subsequently presented before a local court and sent to a safe house.
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