Daily Times

The world is not impressed by the government’s efforts to prohibit kidnapping, forced marriages, and conversions of young girls and women from religious minorities in Pakistan, despite the passage of legislation to stop such practices. Concerned by the alleged increase in crimes against women and people of colour, UN human rights experts have called for immediate action to stop these patterns of behaviour and guarantee victims’ rights. UN experts in Geneva urged the government in a statement to act immediately to stop and thoroughly investigate these crimes in accordance with national law and international human rights commitments. Experts highlighted that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to regions distant from their homes, forced to marry men sometimes twice their age, and persuaded to convert to Islam, all in violation of international human rights legislation. The statement demonstrates that laws alone are insufficient to combat criminality and cultural onslaughts, and it is troubling that such weddings and conversions take place in the face of violence against these girls, women, or their families. The court system, which accepts deceptive testimony from criminals regarding consensual marriage, victims’ adulthood, and conversion without critical inquiry, is what fails the laws and government efforts. Courts have occasionally misapplied religious law interpretations to justify victims’ remaining with their abusers.

The media and civil society often report the pleas of family members of victims that their complaints are rarely taken seriously by the police, who either refuse to record these reports or argue that no crime was committed by categorising these abductions as “love marriages.” Abductors coerce their victims into signing paperwork that fraudulently proves they are of legal marriage age, as well as marrying and giving up their free will. The police use these records to prove that no crime has happened. It is critical that all victims, regardless of religious origin, have equal access to justice and legal protection.

While applauding Pakistan’s prior efforts to create legislation prohibiting forced conversions and protecting religious minorities, UN experts lamented the victims’ and their families’ continued lack of access to justice. According to reports, these so-called marriages and conversions occur with the participation of religious authorities and the complicity of security agencies and the court system. In addition to adhering to their international human rights commitments to fight slavery and human trafficking and promote the rights of women and children, the government must enact and implement legislation that forbids forced conversions, forced and child marriages, kidnapping, and trafficking. *