Maria Shahbaz and the Girls Pakistan’s Courts Refuse to Protect

By CAP LC July 2026

When a Thirteen-Year-Old Becomes a Test Case

Maria Shahbaz was thirteen when she was taken. A Christian girl from Lahore, she was abducted, presented as a convert to Islam, and married to her abductor. Her family produced documentary evidence of her minority status. The marriage documents were falsified. Her statements, they maintained, were made under duress and coercion. In March 2026, Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court upheld her conversion and marriage anyway. It ordered her to remain with her abductor.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 9 July 2026 that opens with this case. Not as an anecdote, but as a symbol. The resolution — titled “The abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan” — treats her story as emblematic of a pattern that has persisted for years and that Pakistani institutions have proven unable or unwilling to stop.

The numbers are familiar to anyone who has followed the issue. According to 2025 UN figures, among women and girls affected by forced conversion through marriage in Pakistan, around 75 percent were Hindu and 25 percent were Christian. Nearly 80 percent of documented incidents occurred in Sindh province. Poverty and marginalisation heighten girls’ vulnerability. The resolution notes these facts without embellishment, then moves to what it demands.

What the Parliament Actually Asked For

The European Parliament’s resolution contains nine operative paragraphs, each with specific demands.

It strongly condemns the abduction, forced conversion, child marriage, and ruling in Maria Shahbaz’s case, and similar abuses of underage girls from religious minorities. It calls on the Pakistani government to ensure that all cases involving minors or allegations of coercion are investigated transparently and independently, and to ensure the effective prosecution of perpetrators and the safe return of abducted girls.

The resolution goes further on Maria Shahbaz specifically. It calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure her immediate protection, to grant her access to legal representation, independent psychological support, and her family, and to conduct a thorough, transparent, and impartial review of her case, fully respecting due process and the best interests of the child. It also demands that human rights organisations be allowed to independently monitor her situation.

The text then widens its scope. It strongly condemns the systematic persecution of Christians in Pakistan, stresses that Maria Shahbaz’s case must be seen in the wider context of discrimination, violence, and intimidation faced by the country’s Christian community, and demands that Pakistan repeal its blasphemy laws and end the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

The Parliament urges the Pakistani judiciary to uphold the rule of law and ensure that any proceedings involving girls from minorities are conducted without external pressure, intimidation, or coercion. It emphasises the need for structured capacity-building within the judiciary in that regard.

On child marriage, the resolution welcomes legislative steps taken in some provinces but urges Pakistan to adopt and fully implement the national framework to end child marriage, and to implement and enforce the provincial legislation. It calls on other provinces to adopt and implement equivalent legislation.

The Parliament also encourages Pakistan to create a national mechanism for handling complaints from families of abducted or forcibly converted girls from minorities, and calls for comprehensive support for victims, including safe shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling, and reintegration programmes. It calls for addressing the root causes of forced marriage and conversion, including gender inequality, poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination based on caste, gender, and religion, and for targeted protection measures for girls from minorities facing discrimination, with particular attention paid to accessing education and social protection.

The final operative paragraph is the one that carries weight. It calls for the EU and the Member States to systematically raise the issue of forced conversions and marriages and the protection of religious and other minorities, political opponents, journalists, civil society, and human rights defenders and activists in bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, including within the framework of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus monitoring. It recalls that failure to effectively implement its human rights commitments, including on women’s and children’s rights, should result in the withdrawal of Pakistan’s GSP+ status.

This is not a request. It is a warning.

The Geneva Conference: What the Parliament Heard

The same week the Parliament voted, a different conversation was taking place in Geneva. At the Geneva Press Club, CAP Liberté de Conscience and Global Human Rights Defence had brought together parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and minority representatives to examine the same pattern the resolution would later address: abduction, forced religious conversion, and child marriage in Pakistan. The question on the table was not whether these violations occurred — that was already documented — but why they persisted, and what institutional pressure could actually change.

As The Geneva Times reported, the conference gathered parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and minority representatives around a single question: why does a pattern of abduction, forced religious conversion, and child marriage persist in Pakistan, and what can be done about it?

Bert-Jan Ruissen, Dutch Member of the European Parliament and co-chair of the EP Intergroup on Freedom of Religion, Belief and Conscience, told participants that he had raised two concerns directly with Pakistan’s ambassador in Brussels: the abduction and forced marriage of young girls, and Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Ruissen’s message was direct: “Pakistan has to show serious progress.” He warned that cooperation with Islamabad would become difficult if concerns over forced marriage and blasphemy laws were not addressed.

The Dutch MEP also cautioned against treating legal reform as sufficient in itself. Punjab had moved to raise the legal age of marriage to 18, but Ruissen noted that “new laws are not enough” if courts continue to disregard birth certificates or rely on statements made under pressure. “Let us not be satisfied just with some changes which look good,” he said, “but don’t change the situation in reality.”

MEP Tomislav Sokol, speaking by video, reinforced the point. Earlier this year, he submitted a written question to the European Commission concerning false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan. In his Geneva message, he urged the Commission to use GSP+ dialogue with Islamabad to seek “concrete progress before 2027.”

World Religion News reported, the conference also heard from Hulda Fahmi of Jubilee Campaign, who presented research examining 100 reported cases involving Christian girls and women between January 2019 and October 2022. The findings were stark: 61 percent of victims in the sample were under 18. The average age gap between victim and abductor was 29.9 years. In one case, a 40-year-old man abducted a nine-year-old girl; in another, a 37-year-old man abducted a 13-year-old.

The methods are not subtle. Perpetrators rely on false age documents, forged marriage certificates, and the cooperation or passivity of police, clerics, and local officials. Families who seek justice often encounter indifference, delay, or intimidation. When cases do reach court, judges have been known to refuse returning a girl to her family on the grounds that her alleged conversion to Islam would be endangered by contact with her Christian or Hindu home.

Why the Courts Fail

Dr Nazir Ahmad, a human rights defender speaking from Pakistan by video at the Geneva conference, offered a measured assessment. He noted that Pakistan has ratified major international human rights treaties and has enacted minimum-age marriage laws in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, and Islamabad Capital Territory. Yet the persistence of documented cases points to a gap between law and practice.

Feudal power structures, poverty, gender inequality, limited educational and economic opportunities, and barriers to justice create conditions where abuse recurs. Some religious actors have publicly endorsed conversions in reported cases, creating an environment where perpetrators expect social approval. But Ahmad also emphasised that many Islamic scholars reject coercion, citing the Qur’anic principle that there is “no compulsion in religion.”

Mercè Monje Cano, Secretary-General of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, argued that child marriage and forced conversion are “two faces of the same crisis,” shaped by political exclusion, poverty, climate stress, and weak local accountability. She noted that the 2022 floods in Pakistan, which put a third of the country underwater, have intensified economic vulnerability, pushing families toward early marriage as a coping mechanism.

Dr Naseem Baloch, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement and a former victim of enforced disappearance and torture, drew a parallel between forced conversion and the coercion faced by Baloch women under state pressure. He described how his own sister was forced to appear at a press conference against him, speaking words she did not believe under state direction. “When a state uses fear to make a sister speak against her brother, that is not consent,” he said. “That is coercion.”

Textbooks and the EU’s Money

Victoria Walczyk of Global Human Rights Defence introduced the organisation’s report, “Educating Intolerance,” which examines Pakistan’s education policies and school textbooks. The report finds that textbooks frequently present national identity through one dominant religious narrative, while the history, culture, and contributions of minority communities receive minimal attention.

Ruissen had raised a related concern at the Geneva conference: the European Union has spent between 100 and 150 million euros on Pakistan’s education system over past decades, yet research indicates that state schoolbooks do not comply with human rights standards on religious freedom. The question of whether EU funding reinforces discrimination is not rhetorical. It is a matter of policy coherence.

The European Parliament’s resolution picks up on this concern. It calls for addressing the root causes of forced marriage and conversion, including gender inequality, poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination based on caste, gender, and religion, and for targeted protection measures for girls from minorities facing discrimination, with particular attention paid to accessing education and social protection.

CAP LC’s Track Record at the UN

CAP Liberté de Conscience has followed the situation in Pakistan closely, engaging with multiple UN mechanisms and European institutions.

At the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, CAP LC co-organised the side-event “Forced Conversions and Minority Women in Pakistan: A Human Rights Emergency” at the Geneva Press Club. The event brought together parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and minority representatives to examine the intersection of religious liberty, women’s rights, child protection, and international accountability.

CAP LC has also engaged with the UN Committee Against Torture on Pakistan’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture. In a joint response with the International Human Rights Committee, CAP LC documented the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community and the use of blasphemy laws as instruments of coercion. The organisation argued that Pakistan’s compliance with the Convention requires not only legal reform but also effective protection of minorities from state and non-state violence.

In another submission, CAP LC addressed the specific situation of the Ahmadiyya community, whose members face systematic discrimination, violence, and prosecution under blasphemy laws for the mere practice of their faith. The organisation called on the Committee to press Pakistan to repeal discriminatory laws, to protect Ahmadiyya places of worship, and to ensure that perpetrators of violence against Ahmadis are prosecuted.

These interventions align with the European Parliament’s resolution in their focus on forced conversion, child marriage, blasphemy laws, and the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community. They also share a common emphasis on the gap between Pakistan’s international commitments and its domestic practice.

The GSP+ Question

The European Parliament’s resolution on Pakistan is part of a wider pattern of EU engagement with human rights in trade relationships. The GSP+ scheme is designed to incentivize compliance with international standards, but its effectiveness depends on consistent monitoring and the willingness to withdraw preferences when progress is insufficient.

The resolution calls for the EU and the Member States to systematically raise the issue of forced conversions and marriages and the protection of religious and other minorities in bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, including within the framework of the GSP+ monitoring. It recalls that failure to effectively implement its human rights commitments, including on women’s and children’s rights, should result in the withdrawal of Pakistan’s GSP+ status.

This is the paragraph that Islamabad will read most carefully. Pakistan has benefited from GSP+ since 2014. The preferential access to the European market is worth billions. The threat of withdrawal is not empty. The European Parliament has used this leverage before, and it is signalling that it is prepared to do so again.

What Happens Next

The European Parliament’s resolution instructs its President to forward the text to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the Government and Parliament of Pakistan. This ensures that the Parliament’s recommendations reach the key decision-makers.

For CAP LC, these developments reinforce the importance of sustained engagement at the UN and in European institutions. Our side-event at the Geneva Press Club, our submissions to the Committee Against Torture, and our ongoing advocacy on the Ahmadiyya community have contributed to the documentation of violations and the mobilization of international concern.

The situation in Pakistan remains dire. Maria Shahbaz is still with her abductor. Minority girls continue to be abducted, converted, and married against their will. The Ahmadiyya community continues to face persecution. Blasphemy laws continue to be used as instruments of coercion. And the gap between law and practice remains wide.

But the European Parliament’s resolution, the sustained advocacy of civil society, and the growing linkage between human rights and trade policy represent a coordinated, multi-level response that goes beyond condemnation to address the political, legal, and economic dimensions of the crisis. For Maria Shahbaz, for the girls who share her story, and for the international community’s credibility, this response cannot come soon enough.