Shahida Bibi was forced to convert to Islam and married against her will. Now she’s free

Shahida Bibi, a Christian girl, was just 11 years old when her mother eloped with a Muslim man, taking Shahida with her. Her new stepfather then “gave” Shahida to his brother, who sexually exploited her. When she turned 18, she was forced into an Islamic marriage — an arrangement documented with forged conversion and marriage certificates. During her captivity, she bore two children. One was born with severe disabilities and died at the age of four.

Last month, a civil court in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, annulled Shahida’s coerced marriage and invalidated her forced conversion to Islam, offering a rare glimmer of hope in a country where young Christian and Hindu girls are regularly abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and married against their will.

Civil Judge Afzal Baig directed Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to restore Shahida’s religious identity as a Christian and erase her marriage from official records. With the legal support of ADF International, for the first time in years, Shahida is free.

The crisis of forced conversions

Yet Shahida’s case is just one of many. While the court’s judgment is a groundbreaking decision, it underscored the uphill battle faced by victims of forced conversions and marriages in Pakistan.

Each year, more than 1,000 girls from religious minorities are abducted, forcibly converted and married — many of them children. The perpetrators often fabricate documents to circumvent Pakistan’s child marriage laws, which currently prohibit marriage under the age of 16 for girls but 18 for boys.

Globally, 100 million girls are at risk of being forced into child marriage over the next decade, according to UNICEF. The threat for girls from religious minorities, particularly in certain parts of Asia and Africa, of also being coerced into changing their religion in connection with a forced marriage is particularly acute. 

When girls are forced to convert, their parents often are unable to stop the violation from happening. These women and girls often are fearful for their lives and those of their families, preventing them from denouncing their captors. Sometimes, tragically, these young and impressionable girls are manipulated into believing that their captors care for them and can offer an escape from the grinding poverty they face at home.

Nobody should suffer the horrors of abduction and forced marriage, further being forced to give up their faith. While we celebrate Shahida Bibi’s freedom from her captor, we must continue to push back against these oppressors around the world.

The global response

International law guarantees every individual the right to freely choose and live out their faith without fear of violence. States around the world are obligated to uphold and protect these freedoms. Over the last year, political leaders have raised their voices in support of these women and girls in Pakistan who endure these threats of abuse.

In January, officials from the European Union issued a warning to Pakistan regarding their human rights violations, including blasphemy laws, forced conversions, and other targeted persecution against religious minorities. If not addressed, Pakistan’s trade relations with the EU could be jeopardised.

In 2024, a group of bipartisan US Senators introduced a resolution calling for the US to “leverage all diplomatic and sanctions tools available to the United States Government to hold religious freedom violators accountable for their actions.” The resolution specifically pointed to religious freedom violations, including forced marriages and conversions, in Pakistan, among other countries. The resolution was widely supported by religious freedom advocates and organisations from across the globe.

Cases like Shahida’s are a grave violation of the basic human rights of these young women. Pakistan must take urgent action in addressing this abuse — starting by implementing a uniform age for marriage to prevent these forced kidnappings and marriages from happening in the first place.

The government of Pakistan has some work to do in order to realign with their human rights obligations. Every state, including Pakistan, must ensure that their laws and policies are in line with their commitments to protect religious freedom under international law, and that the laws they do have in place to protect girls from these violations are enforced.

We must take every step possible to prevent these situations from occurring. Shahida and girls like her depend on our voices.