In Sindh, a province of Pakistan, the custom of swara is practised, by which women are used as commodities to settle disputes between clans and tribes. They are either forced to marry the men from the receiving tribe or used by them as sex slaves. This form of servile marriage continues to occur even in the face of legislation prohibiting this practice and the upholding of that legislation by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (see EGM/GPLHP/2009/EP.14).
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences