A new law in Pakistan to tackle Christian girls being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to older men has been welcomed by the country’s Catholic leadership.

Pakistan’s National Assembly unanimously approved the raising of the minimum legal age of Christians for marriage to 18, amending an 1872 British rule allowing marriage at 13 for girls and 16 for boys.

About 19 million Pakistani women are victims of child marriage, according to 2018 data, with religious minorities being particularly vulnerable.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan hailed the act saying it “will play a crucial role in protecting our young and minor girls from forced conversions and child marriages”.

They expressed hope that the Government would take “further steps to criminalise forced religious conversions”.

This act is not the first legislation of its kind in response to rampant child marriages, but courts do not always enforce these laws.