A new report into the kidnapping, forced conversion and sexual victimisation of Christian women and girls was released yesterday to mark ‘Red Wednesday’.

Catholic Bishop, Michael Nazir-Ali, called the practice an ‘endemic evil’.

The research suggested that in the countries under examination, not only are women from minority faith groups particularly susceptible to attack, but often Christian women are targeted most by militants. In Nigeria, Christians make up 95 percent of women and girls being held by Islamist extremists, and in Pakistan, it is suggested that Christians could comprise up 70 percent of minority faith girls and young women forcibly converted and married every year. Hindu girls are also a major target of kidnappings in parts of Pakistan.

Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s (ACN) ‘Hear Her Cries’ report is the first of its kind to focus on the phenomenon of young women who are seized, because both their sex and religion makes them vulnerable to abduction and assault. The research, looking at the situation for religious groups in 196 countries, found that the number of incidents involving girls and women being taken from their families, raped and forced to change their faith has grown over the last few years.