UNHRC event highlights forced marriages, rights abuse in Pakistan

A UN Human Rights Council side event in Geneva highlighted child and forced marriages and rights violations against women in Sindh, Pakistan. Activists urged the UNHRC to take action to protect the rights of persecuted communities like the Sindhi.

Human rights activists Alejandra Martinez Otero and Dr Shagufta Kandhro in front of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (Photo/ANI)

The issue of child and forced marriages, along with human rights violations against women and girls in Sindh, was raised at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Event Focuses on Persecuted Communities

Alejandra Martinez Otero, Coordinator at Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD), said the side event, titled “Child Enforced Marriage as a Gender-Based Violence,” focused on the rights of women and children and highlighted cases concerning communities in Pakistan. She said the event featured speakers including the UN Special Rapporteur on the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, as well as representatives of the Working Group on Violence Against Women and Girls and members of the Sindhi community. “We want to bring light into the rights of communities that are being persecuted in Pakistan, such as the Sindhi community and the Baloch,” Martinez Otero said. She alleged that the rights of these communities were not being respected by the Pakistani government and said the event was aimed at bringing such cases before the UN and other high-level representatives and organisations in Geneva.

Call for UN to Intervene

Dr Shagufta Kandhro, a women's rights activist from Sindh, said she attended the event to raise concerns regarding women and girls in Sindh, particularly early and child marriages. “Today we present our case of the women and early child marriages of Sindh, and we urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to take action against the state and to protect the human rights and women's rights and children's rights,” Kandhro said.

The speakers called for greater attention to the rights and protection of women and children, particularly in cases involving early and child marriages. (ANI)

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