LAHORE: A conference titled the “Status of Minority Women and their Rights and Challenges” was held on Tuesday with regard to International Women’s Day.

Several themes and issues affecting minority women came under discussion.

The conference was held by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), by the end of which some recommendations were given. Forced faith conversions were declared grave human rights abuses which violated the religious freedom guaranteed in the Constitution. It was recommended that all administrative, legal, and legislative measures should be applied to protect women from minorities from forced conversions and gender-based violence (GBV).

It was also highlighted that because of lack of access, minority women lagged behind in literacy, education, finding better work, equal wages, job security, etc. In order to give them equal rights and provide better opportunities, more affirmative action must be taken, agreed participants.

They also said that the existing legislation governing Hindu and Christian women should be revised and new legislation for Bahai, Sikh, Kalash, etc. should be introduced.

Executive Director of CSJ, Peter Jacob, underlined the sheer lack of official data on minority women and pointed out that the government must ensure a segregated and user-friendly data on socioeconomic aspects.

Nida Usman Chaudhry, founder of Women in Law, said that data must be there, but there must also be privacy of women in those numbers. Many women, she said, are targeted on basis of data revealing facts about them.

In the session for economic and legal rights of minority women, speakers included Khawar Mumtaz (former chairperson NCSW), Jennifer Jag Jivan (Director, Christian Study Center, Rawalpindi), Fauzia Viqar (Senior Gender Advisor and Chief Executive RCMD), Nida Usman Chaudhry (Diversity and Inclusion Advocate, founder Women in Law), Sumera Shafique (Chairperson Minority Rights Committee, High Court Bar Association), and Christina Peter (Executive Director AWARD Pakistan).

Zeeba Hashmi (Peace Education Consultant & founder Ibtidah for Education), and Jacquoline J Austin (Assistant Professor, FC College) and Prof Rehana John spoke on issues of religion in education system.

Kalpana Devi (Additional Advocate General, SHC), Pushpa Kumari (Member, Sindh Human Rights Commission), Nabila Bhatti (human rights activist, researcher and columnist), and Shazia George (former member PCSW) spoke on GBV and the issue of forced conversions.

Asiya Nasir, MNA and minority rights activist, also spoke on legal and social safeguards against forced conversion.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2021