YouthLead Changemaker Photo Contest
TITLE -16-year-old Hariyan photographed during Diwali celebrations in Mandhal village, Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan.
Project: Social & Political Equality for Religious Minorities in Pakistan
In Pakistan, marriages which take place within Hindu communities had no legal recognition. In addition to the impact on cultural and social status, it raised many other serious problems: without legislation, there was nothing governing child marriages, no legal recourse in the case of a dispute or separation, no protection for women who were forcibly married and converted to Islam as they were unable to prove their pre-existing marital status, and no way for widows to inherit property.
The project addressed important gaps in legislature and lobbied for the enactment of Hindu Marriage Bill. A lobbying campaign on the law was devised to gain popular support for the bill. To broaden the scope of the advocacy campaign on religious minority rights issues, a campaign was executed on social media to raise awareness and generate support of for the bill. The campaign was comprised of designed content and visual material to be disseminated among the target audience. By the end of the project the social media forum reached 35k plus followers and the Hindu marriage bill became a law.
In Pakistan, marriages which take place within Hindu communities had no legal recognition. In addition to the impact on cultural and social status, it raised many other serious problems: without legislation, there was nothing governing child marriages, no legal recourse in the case of a dispute or separation, no protection for women who were forcibly married and converted to Islam as they were unable to prove their pre-existing marital status, and no way for widows to inherit property.
The project addressed important gaps in legislature and lobbied for the enactment of Hindu Marriage Bill. A lobbying campaign on the law was devised to gain popular support for the bill. To broaden the scope of the advocacy campaign on religious minority rights issues, a campaign was executed on social media to raise awareness and generate support of for the bill. The campaign was comprised of designed content and visual material to be disseminated among the target audience. By the end of the project the social media forum reached 35k plus followers and the Hindu marriage bill became a law.