UN experts flag forced conversions of minority women in Pakistan, seek action

LONDON: UN experts have expressed serious concern over the continued abduction and forced religious conversion through marriage of women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan, saying "impunity" was fuelling the practice.

"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 in a press release issued by Geneva-headquartered Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday.

According to the experts, about 75 per cent of the victims in 2025 were Hindus and 25 per cent Christians, with nearly 80 per cent of incidents reported from Sindh province. "Impunity", they said, is fuelling this "relentless practice".

"Adolescent girls between 14 and 18 are particularly targeted, and some girls are even younger," they said, adding that poverty and marginalisation increase vulnerability to such abuse.

The experts noted that victims often face physical and sexual violence, social stigma and severe trauma, and are deprived of their freedom of religion or belief under coercive conditions.

“These women and girls endure a continuous sense of terror... This must stop,” they said.

The experts said the scale and persistence of such "grave" human rights violations point to systemic discrimination against non-Muslim women and girls, who are forced to convert to Islam to marry Muslim men.

As per the 2023 Census, Hindus in Pakistan account for almost 3.9 million (roughly 1.61 per cent) of the total population of over 241 million, with the majority of them living in the rural areas of Sindh. The Christian population is over 3.3 million, representing approximately 1.37 per cent of the total population.

According to the Minority Rights Group, an international NGO, Hindus in Pakistan fear persistent harassment at the hands of religious extremists and complain that there is little official protection accorded to them. They also live with regular threats to their places of worship.

Calling for urgent action, the UN experts urged Pakistan to criminalise forced religious conversion as a distinct offence, raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 across all provinces and enforce laws related to human trafficking and sexual violence.

They also called for prompt and impartial investigations into all allegations and stressed that perpetrators must be brought to justice.

The experts expressed concern that "law enforcement authorities often dismiss complaints lodged by victims’ families, fail to investigate or prosecute forced conversions in a timely manner, or neglect to properly assess the age of victims”.

They also called on Pakistan to provide comprehensive, inclusive and gender-responsive support services for victims, including child-centric protection services such as safe shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling and reintegration programmes.

The experts said Pakistan has taken insufficient measures to address the root causes of the issue, including gender inequality, poverty, discrimination against religious minorities, and widespread impunity.

“Freedom of religion or belief and equality must be ensured for all without discrimination,” they said.