Forced marriages to ‘much older men’ ‘haunt’ underaged Palestinian girls
According to UNICEF, every year, 700,000 girls are forced into child marriage in the Middle East and North Africa, where, of course, Islam is the dominant religion.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that the forced marriage of young Palestinian girls “to much older men” is a “norm.” Child marriage in Islam was modeled by Muhammad, who married Aisha when she was six and consummated the marriage when she was 9:
The Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: I have been informed that `Aisha remained with the Prophet for nine years (i.e. till his death).Sahih al-Bukhari 5134
While the world is obsessed with Israel, it ignores the range of human rights abuses in Islam everywhere, including the ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Stolen Childhoods: Forced Marriages Haunt Palestinian Girls
by Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, August 6, 2025:
In a rare moment of self-criticism, the official Palestinian Authority daily highlighted the Palestinian custom of forced marriages of young Palestinian girls to much older men. The cartoon chosen to accompany the article expressed the horror: a balding groom with a cane off to his wedding with a teary-eyed child bride who has just dropped her teddy bear.
The following are excerpts from the article in the official PA daily:
Headline: “Girls in bridal clothes– from the wedding dress to the emergency rooms. Marrying off female minors in Palestine… A childhood stolen under the guise of exceptional cases.”
“While R.K. was arranging her books for a school exam, her mother interrupted her with a sentence that changed the course of her life: ‘A groom is coming for you.’ Just months later, R.K. wore a white wedding dress, but she did not know that the white color was liable to conceal a deep pain that would accompany her for a long time. R.K. was forcibly married at the age of 14, after her father’s death. In words dripping with pain, R.K. tells [the official PA daily] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida about some of her tragedy:…
‘My husband was always violent towards me. He is addicted to Tramadol pills. I would run away to my family’s home, but the [clan’s] dignitaries returned me to him every time, following his false promises to stop the violence.’ She believes that the early marriage robbed her of her childhood and prevented her from getting an education. The last time, R.K. was beaten with a sharp object and fled barefoot with her children without any personal belongings. After suffering for two years, she received a divorce without alimony or support!
Despite the publication of [PA] Decision with Legislative Force No. 21 of 2019 to limit the marriage age to 18, the exceptional cases allowed by the law under the pretext of ‘necessity’ and ‘the interests of both parties’ have emptied the law of its content, and left the door open to the phenomenon. The exception due to a need that the judge deems appropriate continues to be an open window for child marriages, through which hundreds of cases pass each year, against the backdrop of a lack of effective supervision and differences in enforcement between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Between 1995-2019, about 200,000 marriages were registered in Palestine, 95% of which were of girls under the age of 18……
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Pakistan: Serial Predator Exploits Religion to Kidnap, Rape, Convert to Islam, and Marry Underage Christian Girls
The harrowing cases of Mahak Siddique and Alshaba Adnan expose a deeply disturbing pattern of violence, exploitation, and systemic failure in addressing crimes against underage girls from minority communities in Pakistan. Babar son of Mukhtar, operating under aliases such as Ghulam Rasool and Muhammad Babar Ali, emerges as a serial predator who manipulates religious institutions to perpetrate kidnapping, forced conversion, rape, and child marriage. These acts, committed with impunity and aided by accomplices including Muhammad Aftab, Shan Masih, and Khurram Masih, reveal a chilling disregard for human dignity and legal accountability.
The incidents underscore a broader societal and institutional crisis. The coercion of vulnerable girls like Mahak and Alshaba into forced conversions and marriages, under the guise of religious legitimacy, highlights the misuse of religious authority to justify heinous crimes. The failure of local law enforcement to act swiftly and decisively—evidenced by the delayed FIR in Alshaba’s case and the lack of immediate action in Mahak’s—points to systemic negligence, if not complicity, within the justice system. This is compounded by the absence of robust mechanisms to protect minority girls, who face intersecting vulnerabilities due to their age, gender, and religious identity.
From a legal perspective, the invocation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 and Pakistan Penal Code sections (365-B, 376, 498-B, 295-A) is a necessary step, but the enforcement of these laws remains inconsistent. The trauma inflicted on Mahak and Alshaba, coupled with the displacement of their families due to threats, demands urgent and comprehensive intervention. The call for a dedicated task force to safeguard minority girls is not just warranted but essential to prevent further atrocities.
These cases are not isolated, but reflect a broader pattern of gendered and religious violence that threatens the social fabric of Pakistan. Justice for Mahak and Alshaba requires more than legal action; it demands systemic reform, including stringent enforcement of laws, accountability for negligent officials, and comprehensive support for survivors. The failure to address these crimes risks normalizing such predation, endangering countless other girls. Society must confront this moral and legal abyss, ensuring that perpetrators face the full weight of justice and that victims receive the protection and dignity they deserve.
But devout Pakistanis don't see this as a threat to their social fabric; they see Christians and Hindus as a threat to Islamic dominance.
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