What changed

B100348/2026

Sebastiao Bugalho, Tomislav Sokol, Wouter Beke, Jan Farsky, Lukasz Kohut, Ondrej Kolar, Andrey Kovatchev, Ingeborg ter Laak, Miriam Lexmann, Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, Reinhold Lopatka, Eleonora Meleti, Danuse Nerudova, Miroslawa Nykiel, Ana Pedro, Nicolas Pascual de la Parte, Jessica Polfjärd, Davor Ivo Stier, Tomas Tobe, Matej Tonin, Inese Vaidere, Lorant Vincze, Michal Wawrykiewicz, Isabel Wiseler-Lima, Marta Wislo, Tomas Zdechovsky, Zeljana Zovko, Lukas Mandl

European Parliament resolution on the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan

B100350/2026

European Parliament resolution on the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of minor girls in Pakistan

(2026/2801(RSP))

– having regard to itsRules previous150(5) resolutionsand on136(4) Pakistanof its Rules of Procedure,​

– having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 29 July 2025 Maria Shahbaz was abducted in Lahore, forced to convert to Islam and consequently forced to marry her captor; whereas despite her family producing a birth certificate showing Maria to be 14-years-old , the Lahore High Court overruled an earlier decision by the Faisalabad Sessions and District court to place her in a women’s shelter, subsequently forcing her to return to her captor; whereas Maria managed to escape from the home of her captor and she and her family are currently in hiding;

whereas Maria Shahbaz, was at the age of thirteen abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry; whereas on 25 March 2026 Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court upheld her conversion and marriage, and ordered her to remain with the man who abducted her;

whereas Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world;

whereas the case reflects a broader pattern affecting girls in Pakistan, especially from Christian, Hindu and other religious minorities, who are largely exposed to abduction, forced conversion and child marriage;

whereas each year in Pakistan, roughly 1,000 young girls, many of whom are Christians, are kidnapped from their homes, many of whom are later forcibly converted to Islam and married against their will;

whereas Pakistan recently adopted a National Framework to End Child Marriage aimed at strengthening the protection of minors; whereas legislation against child marriage raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years was adopted in several provinces;

whereas courts have repeatedly rejected cases where the girls’ parents tried to annul the marriage and free them from their suffering, among others by producing evidence that the girls were underage; whereas the courts often granted custody of the girls back to the man, continuing the plight of the girls and effectively cutting of ties with the girls’ family;

whereas Pakistan continues to face serious human rights concerns, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, restrictions on freedom of expression, harassment of journalists, misuse of anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws, and pressure on civil society.

whereas in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, legal decisions are often based on differences between civil law and Islamic law, which does not stipulate a fixed minimum age for marriage and permits it upon reaching puberty;

Condemns the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage in the case of Maria Shahbaz and calls for an urgent, independent and child sensitive judicial review of the case;

whereas Pakistani laws against child marriage criminalise the act and provide penalties for those who marry a minor, but whereas those laws do not affect the legal validity of marriages involving minors; whereas these laws lack enforcement;

Calls on the Pakistan authorities to ensure Maria Shahbaz safety, access to her family, independent legal representation and protection from coercion or intimidation pending judicial review;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure the effective protection of Christian communities and other religious minorities, in particular girls at risk of abduction, forced Islamisation and forced marriage, through effective prevention measures, prompt investigations, and access to justice;

Urges Pakistan authorities to investigate and prosecute cases of abduction, forced conversion, child marriage, trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors, including cases involving Christian, Hindu and other minorities;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure the immediate protection of Maria Shahbaz and to conduct a thorough, transparent, and impartial review of her case, with full respect for due process and the best interests of the child;

Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure that courts do not validate marriages or conversions involving minors or persons deprived of free and informed consent;

Calls on the Pakistani government to ensure the immediate and safe return of the abducted girls to their families of origin and to prosecute to the fullest extent those who use forced conversion as a cover for the crime of abduction;

Welcomes recent legislative steps against child marriage in some provinces and urges Pakistan to fully implement the National Framework to End Child Marriage;

Calls on Pakistan to establish a national mechanism to investigate complaints concerning abducted or forcibly converted minors from religious minority communities;

Calls for targeted protection measures for minority girls facing discrimination based on gender, religion, caste and poverty, with particular attention to access to education and social protection;

Calls on the European Commission and the EEAS to systematically raise the protection of religious minorities, forced conversions, and child marriages in all bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, including under the GSP+ monitoring framework;

Condemns enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, harassment of journalists, human rights defenders and activists, and the misuse of anti-terrorism, blasphemy and cybercrime provisions to silence dissent;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of Pakistan, and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.​

Calls on the EU, the EEAS and Member States to raise the case of Maria Shahbaz and the broader pattern of forced conversion and child marriage, as well as question of enforced disappearances in the EU -Pakistan human rights dialogue, Strategic Dialogue and GSP+ monitoring;

Stresses that closer EU - Pakistan relations should be accompanied by progress on human rights, rule of law, women’s and children’s rights and protection of minorities;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HR/VP, the Member States, the Government and Parliament of Pakistan, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.