Nearly 2,000 women and girls from various minority sects were forcibly converted to Islam through rape, torture and kidnappings in Pakistan, and 161 people were charged with blasphemy in 2011, according to a report.
The reports by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) revealed that minorities made up to 3-4% of the country’s population, but remain sidelined in state policies.
According to the Daily Times, in 2011, extremists killed governor Salmaan Taseer and federal minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, as both advocated rights for minorities by calling for amendments in the country’s controversial blasphemy law.
The report also revealed that there was rampant violence against children and showed that a total of 2,303 instances of sexual abuse were recorded from various parts of the country.