In recent months, media outlets have increasingly covered stories of young girls in Pakistan who have been abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and subjected to rape and sexual abuse.

That’s according to Ewelina Ochab, a human rights advocate, author and co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response.

Writing for Forbes, she said while all these stories are tragic, these cases are not isolated occurrences. They are part of a larger problem that continues to be neglected – the issue of ideologically motivated sexual abuse that targets women from religious minorities.

“Indeed, recent cases from Pakistan show how religious minority women and girls are abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly married and abused, but also how their families are unsuccessful in their attempts to challenge these crimes using legal avenues. While the abductions, forced conversions, forced marriages and abuse are perpetrated by individuals, the fate of religious minority women and girls is often sealed as the existing laws or handling such cases deem any legal recourse unavailable or ineffective”.