Forced Child Marriages of Minority Girls in Pakistan Raised at UNHRC
Human rights defenders at the UNHRC highlight the devastating impact of forced child marriages on minority girls in Pakistan.
The harrowing reality of forced and child marriages involving girls from minority communities in Pakistan was brought to the global stage during a side event at the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Human rights advocates raised urgent alarms regarding how these practices strip young girls of their dignity, education, and health.
Organised by Global Human Rights Defence, a UN ECOSOC-accredited body, the event served as a platform for experts to detail the systemic violations occurring within the country. The discussions focused on the long-term damage inflicted upon the most vulnerable members of society.
A Massive Scale of Rights Violations
Naveed Walter, the President of Human Rights Focus Pakistan, presented staggering figures to illustrate the depth of the crisis. Citing data from UNICEF, Walter noted that approximately 90 million women and children in Pakistan have been impacted by child rights violations. Most alarmingly, 4.8 million of those affected were under the age of 15.
Walter emphasised that the consequences of early marriage extend far beyond social stigma, impacting the very survival of these children. He highlighted two critical areas of concern:
- Education: Less than 30 per cent of children who enter into marriage have access to even a basic education.
- Health: The physical toll is lethal, with millions of children dying during pregnancy due to their young age.
The Crisis in Sindh: Health and Vulnerability
Dr. Shagufta Kandhro, a Sindhi women’s rights activist, provided a localized look at the crisis, focusing on the province of Sindh. She shared data from the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, revealing that 84,000 children between the ages of 10 and 17 are currently married, widowed, or separated.
The statistics regarding Sindh paint a grim picture of adolescent vulnerability:
- Early Marriage Rates: Approximately 21 per cent of young women in Sindh were married before reaching the age of 18.
- Pregnancy Risks: There are an estimated 61,000 pregnancies annually among girls aged 15 to 19. However, only 44 per cent of these pregnant adolescents receive the necessary four or more antenatal visits.
- Nutritional Crisis: Sindh faces a severe health crisis with 61.9 per cent of girls suffering from anaemia, the highest rate among all Pakistani provinces.
Dr. Kandhro noted that many of these girls are forced to drop out of school immediately upon marriage, leaving them with no path toward economic independence or personal growth.
A Call for International Intervention
The speakers at the UNHRC event concluded with a powerful plea for change. They called for more robust legal protections for women and children and urged the international community to take decisive action. They argued that child and forced marriage must be addressed globally as a severe form of gender-based violence that requires more than just local policy shifts to resolve.