UN experts slam Pakistan on its lack of protection of Hindu, Christian women
«The exposure of young women and girls belonging to religious minority communities to such heinous human rights violations and the impunity of such crimes can no longer be tolerated or justified,» a statement from the Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations Human Rights, said quoting the experts.
They expressed concern that forced marriages and religious conversions of girls from religious minorities which have been coerced are validated by the courts, often invoking religious law to justify keeping victims with their abductors rather than allowing them to return them to their parents. «Perpetrators often escape accountability, with police dismissing crimes under the guise of 'love marriages',» they said.
The experts stressed that child, early and forced marriage «cannot be justified on religious or cultural grounds» and underlined that, under international law, consent is irrelevant when the victim is a child under the age of 18.
«A woman's right to choose a spouse and freely enter into marriage is central to her life, dignity and equality as a human being and must be protected and upheld by law,» the experts said. They stressed the need for provisions to invalidate, annul or dissolve marriages contracted under duress, with due consideration for the women and girls concerned, and to ensure access to justice, remedy, protection and adequate assistance for victims.
The experts included Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of
