The systematic rights violations targeting Christian and Hindu girls and women in Pakistan were placed under international scrutiny at a recent conference held at the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG). The event, organised by human rights organisation Jubilee Campaign and titled 'Human Rights in Pakistan (Addressing Forced Conversions and Child Marriage in Pakistan)', brought together UN officials, legal experts, and affected families to document and highlight what advocates describe as a deepening crisis.

What the Conference Addressed

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

Farmington reportedly cited figures indicating that approximately 1,000 girls are forcibly converted or kidnapped in Pakistan each year, with advocates warning the actual number could be significantly higher. The discussion focused specifically on the kidnapping, forced religious conversion, and coerced marriage of minors belonging to Christian and Hindu minority communities.

Families of Victims Speak Out

Among the most striking moments of the conference were testimonies from the parents of Amber Nadeem, Maria Shahbaz, and Sataish Mariam, all of whom spoke about the disappearance of their daughters. The families described repeated difficulties in lodging police complaints and an absence of judicial relief in Pakistan's courts.

They voiced deep concern over delays in both police response and judicial proceedings, and flagged the acute vulnerability of minors who were placed in the custody of their alleged kidnappers rather than returned to their families. The families urged the international community to intervene and press for the return of their daughters.

UN Rapporteur and Legal Expert Flag Implementation Failures

Professor Nicholas Levrat, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, described forced conversions and child marriage as a serious problem disproportionately affecting religious minorities in Pakistan. He expressed concern over the lack of enforcement of existing legal provisions on forced conversion and child protection, stating that Pakistan bears the primary responsibility to implement its own human rights obligations, with international support available when needed.

Legal expert Christophe Foltzenlogel, who specialises in international human rights law, noted that Pakistan already possesses legal safeguards covering child protection, religious freedom, and child marriage — but that these laws have not been implemented in practice. The gap between legislation and enforcement, he argued, is what enables continued violations.

Jubilee Campaign Documents 210 Cases Since 2019

Joseph Johnson of the Jubilee Campaign presented a report titled 'Stolen Girls', which documented 210 cases between 2019 and 2025. The data revealed that Punjab and Sindh provinces accounted for the majority of documented cases. Johnson noted that victims in the cases were below the legal age of marriage, while the alleged perpetrators were typically significantly older. He also stated that police initially refused to register complaints in several cases, pointing to structural weaknesses in both law enforcement and judicial processes that enable violations to persist.

Recent Case in Sindh Illustrates Wider Pattern

The conference comes amid ongoing concern over a case in Pakistan's Sindh province, where a leading minority rights body, Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), raised alarm over the alleged abduction, forced conversion, and marriage of two minor Hindu sisters. According to the organisation, the family alleged that Roopi and Seeta, aged 13 and 14, were abducted from Ibrahim Colony in Tando Allahyar district, forcibly converted to Islam, and compelled to marry two Muslim men identified as Amjad Solangi and Mansoor Solangi.

Citing reports, VOPM said that authorities produced the girls before a court in Tando Allahyar in connection with an abduction case, after which the court sent them to a safe house rather than returning them to their family. Rights advocates say the case is emblematic of the broader pattern documented at the Geneva conference.

With international attention now formally trained on the issue, pressure is likely to mount on Pakistan to demonstrate concrete enforcement of its own laws before the next session of the UN Human Rights Council.