EU Parliament condemns forced marriage of Pakistani Christian

The European Parliament last week passed a resolution condemning a Pakistani high court’s decision to uphold the forced marriage and conversion of a 13-year-old Christian girl. The Pakistani federal court in March ruled that Maria Shahbaz, who was abducted and forced to convert to Islam, must remain with her 30-year-old husband and abductor.

What does the evidence show? The European Parliament stated that evidence confirmed her marriage documents had been falsified. It also argued that her case was part of a broader pattern of discrimination and abuse of religious minority women in Pakistan, particularly Christians and Hindus. The Pakistani government recently adopted laws against child marriage in some provinces, but they weren’t well enforced, according to the parliament. The parliament called on the Pakistani government to give Shahbaz a fair review of her case and access to legal representation. Alliance Defending Freedom International is currently supporting her legal battle.

The resolution stated that the European Union should withdraw political concessions to Pakistan, including lower tariffs, if its government didn’t act to address such human rights issues. The resolution would be sent to the Pakistani government, according to its text.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on Iran’s release of an American woman detained for years.