What changed

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

P10_TA(2026)0269

B100350/2026

The abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan

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

PE783.409

(2026/2801(RSP))

European Parliament resolution of 9 July 2026 on the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz and the protection of girls in Pakistan (2026/2801(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,​Procedure,

A. whereas onMaria 29Shahbaz, Julya 2025Christian Mariagirl Shahbazfrom Lahore, was abducted13 inwhen Lahore,she was abducted and forced to convert to Islam and consequently forced to marry her captor;abductor; whereas despite her family producing a birth certificate showing Maria to be 14-years-old , the Lahore High Court overruledmaintains anthat earlierher decisionstatements bywere themade Faisalabadunder Sessionsduress and District court to place her incoercion; awhereas women’sdespite shelter,documentary subsequentlyevidence forcingconfirming her tominority returnstatus toand herfalsified captor;marriage whereasdocuments, Mariain managedMarch to2026 escapePakistan’s fromFederal theConstitutional homeCourt ofupheld her captorconversion and shemarriage and ordered her familyto areremain currentlywith inher hiding;abductor;

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

B. whereas there is a persistent and well-documented pattern in Pakistan of abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage of underage girls from Hindu, Christian and other religious minorities; whereas, according to 2025 UN figures, among women and girls affected by forced conversion through marriage, around 75 % were Hindu and 25 % were Christian; whereas poverty and marginalisation heighten girls’ vulnerability;

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;

C. whereas the Pakistani Government recently proposed 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 some provinces, which, however, lack enforcement;

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;

D. whereas Christians are among the most severely persecuted religious communities in Pakistan and the largest worldwide, as demonstrated by the case of Maria Shahbaz;

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;

E. whereas the case of Maria Shahbaz is emblematic of broader human rights violations faced by minorities in Pakistan, including arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, harassment of journalists and civil society, and misuse of blasphemy, anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws;

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;

1. Strongly condemns the abduction, forced conversion to Islam, child marriage and ruling in the case of Maria Shahbaz, and similar abuses of underage girls from religious minorities in Pakistan;

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;

2. 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 safe return of abducted girls;

3. Calls on the Pakistani authorities to ensure the immediate protection of Maria ShahbazShahbaz, to grant her access to legal representation, independent psychological support and to her family, and to conduct a thorough, transparent,transparent and impartial review of her case, with full respectfulling forrespecting due process and the best interests of the child;child and allowing human rights organisations to independently monitor her situation;

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;

4. Strongly condemns the systematic persecution of Christians in Pakistan and stresses that the abduction, forced conversion and child marriage of Maria Shahbaz must be seen in the wider context of discrimination, violence and intimidation faced by the country’s Christian community; demands that Pakistan repeal its blasphemy laws and end the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities;

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

5. 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; emphasises the need for structured capacity-building within the judiciary in that regard;

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;

6. Welcomes the legislative steps taken in some provinces against child marriage and urges Pakistan to adopt and fully implement the national framework to end child marriage and to implement and enforce the provincial legislation; calls on other provinces to adopt and implement equivalent legislation;

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.​

7. 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; 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;

8. 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; 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;

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR and the Government and Parliament of Pakistan.