Pakistani report: 700 Christian women kidnapped yearly, forced into Muslim marriages
April 10, 2014
A coalition of organizations, including the Pakistani bishops' justice and peace commission, has found that 700 Christian girls and women, and 300 Hindu girls and women, are kidnapped each year, are forced to convert to Islam, and are forced to enter into marriages with Muslims, according to the Fides news service.
“Under the custody of the kidnapper, she may suffer sexual violence, forced prostitution, domestic abuse and beatings, if not human trafficking,” according to the organizations' report.
“It is really very alarming and disturbing for Christians and Hindus, who feel very insecure and vulnerable, said Father James Channan, a Dominican who ministers in Lahore. “We have dealt directly with several cases of forced marriages: the young people belonging to poor social class and often rich Muslim landowners take advantage of such abuse. In Pakistan, it seems to me that Christians and Hindus suffer social, religious and political discrimination, which is getting worse.”
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Apr. 12, 2014 8:49 PM ET USA
I heard Jimmy Carter advertise his new book on Atlanta radio this week. The book is a call to action regarding the abuse of women and girls. In his first statement, he said that the greatest abuse of women and girls occurs on American college campuses and in the U.S. military. The next day he informed us that the horrible abuse of women and girls not only occurs in the U.S., but in other countries as well. I hope he included information in his book from the CWN news article above.
