Forced child marriages shot down by Pakistani High Court in major break with tradition

 But will it stand up to a challenge in Sharia-friendly Pakistan?

Joel Cauley / Simple - Hope



3 hours ago ·

A major court ruling in Pakistan could have significant implications for protecting children, including girls from Christian and other religious minority communities.

In an August 31 ruling, the Lahore High Court held that under Punjab’s new child-marriage law, anyone under 18 is considered a child and cannot legally consent to marriage. The court said a minor’s claimed consent does not give an adult the legal right to live with her.

The case involved Hina Aslam, whose government registration records reportedly showed she was about 15 years old at the time of the alleged marriage. The court placed her in protective custody, restricted contact to supervised visits, and directed police to investigate allegations that the marriage certificate had been falsified.

The ruling could also affect other disputed child-marriage cases. Attorney Saqib Jillani, who represents the family of 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz, argues that the new law changes the legal landscape following an earlier ruling that had upheld her reported marriage to a 30-year-old man.

The issue has drawn particular concern from advocates for Pakistan’s religious minorities. A Jubilee Campaign report presented to the European Parliament documented 210 reported cases between 2019 and 2025 involving allegations of abduction, forced conversion, child marriage, or sexual violence against minority girls. The report put the victims’ average age at 12.8 and the accused individuals’ average age at 35.8.

For Christian families and other minorities who have raised concerns about forced conversion and child marriage, advocates are describing the ruling as an important development.

The message from the court is significant: a child’s claimed consent does not erase the protections the law gives to a child. 

EU moving toward social media ban/rules for kids

 

Brussels unveils plans for EU-wide social media ban for kids under 13

By Paul Godfrey    

The EU KIDS Act will bar children younger than 13 from social media, route older kids' access via their parents' accounts and impose new safety-by-design" requirements on all online and video sharing platforms providing services to anyone under the age of 18. File photo Sascha Steinbach/EPA

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Brussels confirmed Thursday it will move ahead with legislation that will see a blanket EU social media ban for children younger than 13, sets 15 as the minumim age to open an account and imposes new "safety-by-design" rules on tech firms providing services to minors younger than 18.

The EU KIDS Act will boost parental oversight of children between the ages of 13 and 15 with mini accounts linked to the parent or guardian's main account that would limit them to age-appropriate social media and video-sharing platforms, the European Commission said in a news release.

Services accessed via mini accounts must have safeguards built-in, including restricted ability to be contacted and contact others and a daily screen time limit of an hour maximum in recognition of "the role of guardians in supporting the autonomous and safe development of their children online," the commission said.

"Today, our children are engaging with the most sophisticated technologies ever created. Technology that was never created with their wellbeing in mind. Our KIDS Act is reversing the burden of proof -- it is for platforms to show they are safe by design. And we put parents back in the driving seat, giving them the tools to help their children navigate a safer online world," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Large online platforms will be required to submit a compliance plan to the commission and to an independent auditor for existing and new services, features or functionality to be evaluated and make modifications, if asked to do so.

The proposed ecosystem will require online services and app stores use tools to confirm age such as the EU age verification app with the 27 member states of the bloc "closely involved" in setting up the new regime to keep kids safe online.

The law bans addictive features and profiling-based recommender feeds "dragging minors into 'rabbit holes' of harmful content,'" infinite scroll, reward tricks and push notifications during sleeping hours and unsolicited contact for all online services that provide social media, video sharing and online video games to under-18s.

AI companions and chatbots must be turned off by default and must not interact with users in ways that develop emotional dependency.

Minors' profile must be also set to private by default with geolocation, camera and microphone off and kid-friendly tools provided for them to block and mute other users, manage their time online as well as the ability to easily control, fine-tune and reset recommender systems.

The commission said a proposal had been forwarded to the European Parliament and Council aimed at kickstarting the process of adopting the bill.

"Considering the clear demand for urgent and comprehensive action at Union level, it is essential that the act is adopted swiftly," said the commission.

• Pennsylvania is suing TikTok over 'addictive' features
• French parliament passes social media ban for young teens
• European Commission: TikTok violates safety regulations for minors
• Overnight social media curfew announced for older teens in Britain

The Rape of Britain > Afghans raping girls and women in the UK - still coming to Britain

 

Zia Yusuf - Shadow Home Secretary, Reform UK

Zia Yusuf

@ZiaYusufUK

An Afghan man called Sultani Bakatash has been jailed for raping two 14-year-old schoolgirls. Having plied them with alcohol until they started to lose consciousness. This is no isolated incident. In the last six weeks alone, we learnt: An Afghan 'asylum seeker' groomed and raped a 13-year-old girl in Nottingham. Two Afghans raped a woman at knifepoint while she was out stargazing. While she was out stargazing. Two more Afghans were charged following the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl on a train. Ministry of Justice data shows Afghans are many times more likely to be convicted of sex offences than British nationals. And yet... Afghans are the 2nd most prevalent nationality still invading our shores by boat. Sick Tories spent billions of your money smuggling thousands of Afghans to Britain and took out a superinjunction to stop you finding out. Tory Ministers sacrificed British women and girls. We will never forget what they did.

7:12 AM · Sep 18, 2026

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24K

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Femicide > Bukele clamps down on the rape and murder of women and girls in El Salvador; Iran committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' - Amnesty Int'l; Ninth woman's body found in South Africa

 

El Salvador issues first life sentence in femicide case

By Macarena Hermosilla    

Eduardo Mauricio Urbina García became the first person in El Salvador to receive a life sentence for aggravated femicide, following a legal reform that introduced such penalties. Photo by Attorney General's Office of El Salvador/X

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- An El Salvador court issued the country's first life sentence for aggravated femicide, following a legal reform that introduced such penalties. The Attorney General's Office said the sentence stemmed from a killing in August.

The man was convicted of fatally stabbing a neighbor whom he had repeatedly harassed, according to prosecutors. The sentence was handed down Monday, just 42 days after the crime.

"Just 42 days after the crime, the Attorney General's Office secured the first life sentence for aggravated femicide," the office said in a post on X.

Eduardo Mauricio Urbina García became the second person sentenced to life in prison in El Salvador under constitutional and criminal reforms backed by President Nayib Bukele's government that took effect in April 2026. Three days earlier, the country's first life sentence was handed down to a man convicted of murder.

The Criminal Court of Santa Ana imposed the sentence after Urbina García entered an expedited proceeding and was found guilty of killing 32-year-old Jazmín Ramírez.

Ramírez was killed Aug. 3 while she was in her apartment. Urbina García, her neighbor, entered the residence and fatally stabbed her, local newspaper La Prensa Gráfica reported.

El Salvador's Congress approved life imprisonment earlier this year for people convicted of murder, rape and terrorism. Previously, the maximum sentence was 60 years in prison, with mechanisms allowing for sentence reductions.

In April, Bukele pushed for and signed an extension of life imprisonment to minors as young as 12 who commit murder or rape or participate in acts of terrorism. The change is part of the security policies promoted by his government.

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Report: Iran committed crimes against humanity during 2022 uprising

By Jill Keppeler    

People clash with police during a protest in September 2022 in Tehran, Iran. On Wednesday, Amnesty International released a report detailing the violent police crackdown against people protesting after the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, that month. File photo by EPA-EFE

Sept. 16 (UPI) -- In a report released Wednesday, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in a brutal crackdown against protestors in the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising.

The report "details how Iranian authorities committed the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, enforced disappearance, imprisonment, rape and persecution on political, gender, ethnic and religious grounds in order to crush the uprising," the organization said. It released the document on the fourth anniversary of the start of the protests.

"The extensive evidence gathered and analyzed in our report leaves no doubt: Iran authorities ... waged a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population demanding dignity, human rights and fundamental political change, pursuant to a state policy of using legal force to obliterate dissent," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.

The mass protests began after Mahsa Amini, 22, died in Iranian police custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the country's hijab laws. Authorities met the protests with force -- one leaked order told police to "respond mercilessly and go as far as causing death."

"Our report also unveils how crimes against humanity in Iran are sustained by an architecture of impunity built into the country's constitutional, legislative, political and frameworks," Callamard said. "The horrifying result has been intensifying cycles of mass protest killings, culminating in the massacres of thousands of protestors within just 48 hours" on Jan. 8 and 9, 2026.

The report, "Architects of Atrocities: State Machinery Orchestrating Crimes Against Humanity in Iran's 2022 Woman Life Freedom Uprising," is more than 1,000 pages long. The organization also released "Lives Cut Brutally Short," a report detailing the deaths of 377 protesters and bystanders, 56 of them children.

Research for the report included interviews with 270 people and analysis of more than 2,000 videos and documents, the organization said.

Callamard called on the United Nations to address the events detailed in the report and also noted that it is published "at a time when people in Iran are also facing the devastating consequences of unlawful attacks by the [United States] and Israel."

"Amnesty International unequivocally opposes violations of international law by all parties and rejects any attempt to instrumentalize the suffering of victims of human rights violations in Iran to justify unlawful attacks that inflict further civilian harm," Callamard said.

Iranian American Women Foundation holds vigil for Mahsa Amini

Hundreds gather for the Iranian American Women Foundation's candlelight vigil for Mahsa Amini at West Hollywood Park in West Hollywood, Calif., on September 29, 2022. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

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South African police find ninth woman's body near Johannesburg

By Rob Johnson    

South African Police Service members and state pathologists inspect the body a woman found dumped on the side of a road in Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday. Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- South African police said Thursday the body of a ninth woman in two months was discovered east of Johannesburg, the latest in a string of unexplained deaths in the area.

The latest body was found half-naked on the side of a road in Dawn Park and wrapped in a sheet, police said. The victim's identity has not been released.

The bodies of eight other women have been found across Ekurhuleni, a major urban area of South Africa's largest city, since July. Several were found injured and partially clothed. However, police say they have not determined if the deaths are connected or if a serial killer was responsible.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said "no stone will be left unturned" in finding those responsible for the deaths, adding that they were "causing fear and uncertainty in our communities."

Also Thursday, the family of Gracious Nkomo, 28, identified her as the third victim whose body was found on the side of a road in Kempton Park on Sept. 10.

A South African Police Service spokesperson said Nkomo's body was discovered partially clothed.

The victims also include Elizabeth "Tsonso" Moselakgomo, 38, who disappeared last week after going on a run in the afternoon. Her body was found three days later behind a Kempton Park hotel.

Two other victims were identified as Itumeleng Kekana, who went missing in July, and Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, who was discovered Tuesday by the side of a road in KwaThema.

The first body was discovered July 15 in Kempton Park. A suspect was arrested two days later and is still in custody but has not been linked to the other killings.

The other bodies were found in August and this month in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Clayville and KwaThema.

Authorities have offered a reward of 400,000 South African rand ($24,000) for information leading to arrests in the killings.

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