UN Conference Reveals Non-Muslim Child Abuse in Pakistan

On July 26, 2025, a 13-year-old Pakistani Christian child, Maria Shahbaz, was abducted by a 30-year-old Muslim man near her home. She was forcibly converted to Islam and married to her abductor. Police in Lahore delayed the filing of the family's first information report (FIR) and influenced the judge to dismiss their abduction complaint.

On July 31, 2025, the Model Town court of Judicial Magistrate Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema awarded custody of Shahbaz to her captor after accepting falsified documents claiming she was 18 years old.

In March 2026, the Federal Constitutional Court upheld the decision.

Maria is one of the hundreds of non-Muslim children in Pakistan who have been abducted, forcibly married, and forcibly converted to Islam. 

A recent UN conference has discussed the crisis of systematic rights violations against Christian girls and women in Pakistan. The event titled "Human Rights in Pakistan (Addressing Force Conversions and Child Marriage in Pakistan)" was organized by the human rights organization Jubilee Campaign on October 1 at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). 

The event was moderated by Hilda Farmington, Communication Associate of the Jubilee Campaign (JC). 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). 

The event included a video address by Reem Alsalem (Jordan-Belgium), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, who spoke on its causes and consequences. Dr. Katerina Schwarz, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons, also joined over video.

The speakers focused on the reported abduction, forced religious conversion and marriage of girls in Pakistan, particularly those from Christian and Hindu minority communities. They highlighted concerns regarding implementation of existing laws, access to justice, protection of victims and the need for stronger action by Pakistani authorities.

Farmington stated that approximately 1,000 girls are forcibly converted or abducted each year, while stressing that the actual number could be higher. 

She opened the event with testimonies from families, including the parents of Maria Shahbaz, Amber Nadeem, Myra Shehbaz, and Sataish Mariam. The parents described their daughters' disappearance, difficulties in registering a police complaint, and unsuccessful attempts to obtain relief through different courts. The families appealed for international assistance to secure their daughters' return. 

The testimonies highlighted concerns about delays by police, judicial proceedings, and the vulnerability of minors placed in the custody of the abductors.

Prof. Nicolas Levrat described in his statement forced conversions and marriages as a serious problem that affects religious minorities and has a strong gender dimension. He stressed that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Pakistan is a party, provides an important framework for addressing these cases given that persons under 18 are entitled to specific protections.

Levrat questioned whether new legislation alone would resolve the problem. He observed that Pakistan already has legal provisions addressing forced conversion and child protection, but their lack of implementation is a major concern. He further emphasized that Pakistan bears the primary responsibility for implementing its own human rights obligations, with international support only where necessary.

Dr. Katerina Schwarz examined forced conversion and forced marriage from a slavery and counter-trafficking perspective. She stated that these cases should be assessed according to the full range of human rights violations involved, including sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, reproductive exploitation and trafficking. 

Schwarz explained that discrimination, social isolation, coercion, abduction, and severe restrictions on liberty are all indicators of situations that fall within the international legal framework on slavery. She stressed that states have obligations to identify victims, investigate allegations effectively, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide protection, assistance, and support to survivors. She further noted that victims should not have to depend solely on family complaints before state authorities take any action where there are indications of slavery or trafficking.

Reem Alsalem highlighted the interconnected nature of child marriage, forced conversion, abduction, sexual violence and trafficking. She emphasized that children cannot provide meaningful consent to marriage. Religious conversion cannot be considered voluntary when it results from abduction, coercion, threats or violence. 

She noted that girls from minority communities may face heightened risks because of the intersection of age, gender, religious identity, poverty and unequal power. She referred to Pakistan’s obligations under international human rights treaties, including the CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child), CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). 

Alsalem stressed that these obligations require the state to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, and prosecute violations committed by private individuals and to provide effective remedies and protection to survivors. However, she stressed that legislation alone is insufficient without effective implementation. 

Christophe Foltzenlogel, a legal expert and jurist who specializes in international human rights law, stated that Pakistan already has several legal safeguards concerning child protection, religious freedom and child marriage. He argued that the principal problem is the inconsistent application of existing laws. 

Referring to the case of Maria Shahbaz, he raised concerns about the treatment of statements made by minors in judicial proceedings and the continued official recognition of marriages involving children. He stressed that failure to enforce existing legislation affects confidence in the rule of law. He also referred to cases involving Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to illustrate broader concerns regarding the protection of religious minorities and accused persons.

Joseph Johnson, who has undertaken research and field visits in Pakistan, presented his findings. He stated that his organization documented 210 cases between 2019 and 2025. The figure was based on available sources and does not represent the total number of cases. He made a presentation titled “Stolen Girls,” according to which Punjab and Sindh accounted for the majority of the documented cases, which he put at approximately 87%. 

He stated that many of the girls involved were below the legal age of marriage and that the abductors were frequently considerably older. Johnson also noted that in some cases, police initially refused to register complaints. Weaknesses in police and judicial procedures facilitate continued violations. 

He raised concerns about marriage certificates in which the ages of girls were recorded incorrectly and referred to cases where the girls were subsequently placed in the custody of perpetrators.

The conference brought to light the many abuses Pakistani non-Muslim children are subjected to as well as Pakistan's legal obligations to end those abuses. But when existing laws and international treaties fail to shield children from harm, what recourse remains? 

When the state abdicates its primary duty to protect its most vulnerable citizens, accountability must be sought from the outside. International mechanisms, specifically targeted Western sanctions, should be directed at the individuals within Pakistan’s police force, judiciary, and administrative offices who facilitate or permit these abuses against non-Muslim children.