Daijiworld Media Network - Geneva

Geneva, Apr 22: United Nations experts have expressed serious concern over what they described as continuing and widespread abductions and forced religious conversions through marriage affecting women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan.

Warning that impunity was allowing the practice to persist, the experts called for urgent legal and institutional measures to address the issue.

According to the experts, around 75 per cent of reported victims in 2025 were Hindu girls, while 25 per cent were Christian, with nearly 80 per cent of such incidents reported from Sindh province.

They said adolescent girls between 14 and 18 years were particularly vulnerable, though some reported victims were even younger.

“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.

They noted that victims in such cases often face physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, social stigma and long-term trauma.

The UN experts urged Pakistan to intensify efforts to eradicate forced conversions, raise the legal age of marriage to 18 across all provinces and territories, and criminalise forced religious conversion as a separate offence.

They also called for full enforcement of laws related to human trafficking and sexual violence.

Expressing concern over institutional failures, the experts said law enforcement agencies often dismiss complaints from victims’ families, fail to investigate cases promptly or do not properly verify the age of victims.

They called for prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations and urged authorities to bring perpetrators to justice.

The experts also stressed the need for comprehensive support systems for survivors, including safe shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling and reintegration programmes, while advocating child-centred and gender-responsive protection mechanisms.