ICC Note:

According to recent reports, over 700 Christian girls are abducted, sexually assaulted, forced to convert to Islam and then married to their abductors every year in Pakistan. This practice, which is only added by the lack of government attention, highlights the vulnerability of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. Many of these victims are never allowed to return to their families due to backward and abusive legal systems stacked against them. Most telling is the fact that these women are forced to stay with their captors throughout the trial process if they or their families bring charges. This fact leaves the victims open to physical abuse at the hands of their captors. Please pray for these abducted women.

4/22/2014 Pakistan (Worthy News) – Every year in Pakistan, an estimated 1,000 girls and young women are kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and then married to Muslim men, according to Barnabas Aid.

Mostly Christians and Hindus, these victims are usually between the ages of 12 and 25; they are often subjected to sexual assault, rape, domestic abuse and even forced prostitution.

All the abductions follow a familiar pattern: a female is kidnapped, forcefully converted to Islam and then married off to either the kidnapper, or a third party. The families’ attempts at recovering their daughters are often hindered by police that are reluctant to lodge the complaint and sharia courts that unquestioningly accept any coerced statement attesting to a forced conversion and marriage.

Should the victim’s family successfully file a complaint with the police, their “son-in-law” will often file a counter claim against his new in-laws by accusing them of harassment.

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