Lahore, Pakistan: The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), in collaboration with Cosmopolitan Club Lahore, hosted a screening of the award-winning documentary film ‘Hum Saya—Neighbor’, followed by a panel discussion.
CSJ’s documentary film is based on the true stories of the minor girls who faced forced conversion. The film won the Best Short Documentary on Human Rights award at the prestigious Venice Intercultural Film Festival in 2023, and it has been selected for its fifth international screening, including at the 7th FICNOVA in Spain in 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iInvFMdMGi8
Human rights experts, Peter Jacob, Nabila Feroz Bhatti, and Prof. Dr. Sara Rizvi Jafree spoke on the pressing issue of forced conversions and child marriages in Pakistan. The speakers emphasized that coerced conversions violate fundamental human rights, yet remain largely unaddressed due to governmental inaction.
Peter Jacob, Executive Director at CSJ stated that incidents of forced conversion have spiked in recent years. Till August 2024, 35 incidents have been reported, out of which 11 were in Punjab and 24 in Sindh. At least 404 incidents of forced conversions have been reported since 2021. In the recent UN treaty body reviews under (CERD and CCPR), the Government has denied the presence of forced conversions. He observed that the existing laws have proved inadequate in addressing forced conversions and forced marriages. Therefore, a specific law is imperative to regulate the faith conversions and criminalize the act of forced conversions, particularly of underage minority girls.
Dr. Sara Rizvi Jafree, Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Sociology, Forman Christian College University stressed that the extremists may believe that they are serving cause of religion by the act of forcibly converting powerless minority females in Pakistan, but in fact, Islam does not allow this. The backdrop of incidents of forced conversion presents dire and gruesome realities, with females having suffered threats, assaults, and rape. After the conversions, the lives of women are afflicted by trauma, resentment, and loss of self-identity. This can result in lifelong traumatic experiences of both mental and physical health, along with other social challenges such as a low conjugal bond, low nurturing efforts for childcare, estrangement from family, and inability to participate in the workforce, amongst wider issues. Not only is Pakistan in need of legislation against forced conversions, but also social interventions for the support of women victims and survivors. For the latter, a database will be developed for these women and monitor their life course and well-being through social workers/ social protection officers through a continuum-based model.
Nabila Feroz Bhatti, a Human Rights advocate underlined that the issue of early child marriage and forced conversion was neglected but serious in Pakistan. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2017 (IV) prohibits forced marriages, making the marriage of a minor and a non-Muslim woman an offense punishable with no less than five years of imprisonment. However, this legal safeguard remains largely unimplemented, primarily because the government has failed to acknowledge the severity of the issues. In cases of forced conversion, the government has failed to effectively implement the child marriage restraint laws in place.
The open discussion displayed a consensus that special safeguards were needed for the protection, privacy, trauma healing, and rehabilitation of victims and survivors. The Government must provide a strong pro bono legal representation to minor girls.
