The impact of child and forced marriages on girls in Pakistan, particularly those from minority communities, was discussed at a side event during the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.Speakers at the event raised concerns about girls being married at a young age and the consequences for their education, health and basic rights. The event was reported by Global Human Rights Defence, a UN ECOSOC-accredited human rights organisation.Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan and a human rights defender, pointed to the scale of child rights violations in Pakistan and the vulnerability of children who enter marriage at an early age.“Most recently, UNICEF gave the data about Pakistan. Ninety million women and children and girls have been affected by child rights violations. And of them, 4.8 million were under 15 years of age,” Walter said.Walter said early marriage can leave girls without access to basic education and expose them to serious health risks, particularly during pregnancy.“You know, dear excellencies and dear audience, that during pregnancy, millions of children have died. And you know, under 30 per cent of the children who get married even have basic education,” he said.The discussion also focused on Sindh, where women’s rights activist Shagufta Kandhro highlighted the situation of girls who are married before reaching adulthood.“According to the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, 84,000 children between the ages of 10 and 17 are married, widowed and separated. Many of them have already left school, and many face serious health risks,” Kandhro said.Kandhro said 21% of young women in Sindh had been married before turning 18. She also flagged concerns around teenage pregnancies and limited access to maternal healthcare.According to her, Pakistan sees an estimated 61,000 pregnancies among girls aged 15 to 19 each year. Only 44% of pregnant girls in this age group receive at least four antenatal visits, she said.Kandhro also cited anaemia among girls in Sindh, putting the figure at 61.9%. She described this as the highest rate among the provinces.The speakers urged stronger safeguards for women and children and called for greater international attention to child and forced marriage, which they linked to gender-based violence.
