investigating the issue. That said, growing awareness of women’s rights suggests the need for research into whether any increase in cases is primarily the result of better reporting, with more victims and their families coming forward, or if there is an underlying rise in the incidence rate itself. To date, evidence points more towards the latter. In April, ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021, which assesses the situation for faith groups in 196 countries, concluded in its ‘Main Findings’: “Crimes against girls and women abducted, raped and obliged to change their faith in forced conversions, were recorded in a growing number of countries.” 5 The report also described “the increasing number of these violations.” 6 Incidents of Christian women being forced to marry against their will were reported as present in 90 percent of the 50 countries included in the Open Doors’ persecution World Watch List 2021. Assessing key factors of concern, such as forced marriage and sexual and other physical violence, the organization’s study on gender-speciÀc religious persecution concluded that the situation for women suffering religious and other forms of coercion had demonstrably worsened over the previous year. 7 Evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the perfect breeding ground for acts of sexual violence. According to the UN: “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines have shown that all types of violence against girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensiÀed.” 8 Research showed that vulnerable converts in lockdown with their families are at a greater risk of general abuse, especially in the Middle East and the North African (MENA) region. 9
Hear Her Cries: The Kidnapping, Forced Conversion and Sexual Victimization of Christian Women and Girls also responds to growing awareness among human rights observers and persecution watchdog organisations that this topic is increasingly urgent. While, as Dr. Ewelina Ochab stated, “The problem continues to be neglected,” 1 particularly in many countries with poor human rights records and especially concerning women and religious freedom, the issue is beginning to gain traction in the West. SigniÀcantly, recommendation Àve of the July 2019 Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth OfÀce Support for Persecuted Christians set out the need to: “Bolster research into the critical intersection of [Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB)] and minority rights with broader human rights issues (such as people trafÀcking, gender equality, gender-based violence, especially kidnapping, forced conversion and forced marriage).” 2 Hear Her Cries was conceived in response to this proposal, noting that the Truro report stated that its recommendations “should be reviewed independently” 3 in July 2022.The problem, however, is that examining the topic of sexual violence and persecution of faith minorities is far from straightforward. While there is growing consensus about the need for research into the nature and scale of religious and sexual coercion of women, the challenges of setting about the task have been consistently highlighted in studies on the subject. One report described the matter as “complex, violent and hidden.” 4 Social pressure, including the fear of casting shame on the family, and the threat of reprisal from abductors and their accomplices, are among the factors commonly cited in explaining the difÀculties of
The research for this report suggested that in the countries under review, among minority faith groups as a whole, Christian girls and young women
| 5
Powered by FlippingBook