Hundreds of Coptic Christian schoolgirls in Egypt have been kidnapped and forced to convert to the Muslim faith of their abductors in recent years.
According to GodReports, the Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance (AVAFD) reports that stince the start of 2011, over 550 Christian girls have been kidnapped by Muslim men before being forced to convert and marry them.
The AVAFD reports that the women rage in age from 14 to 40 and around 40 per cent of them are raped. Others are coerced by young Muslim men who first gain their trust.
There has been a surge in numbers of Christian girls being kidnapped in Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
AVAFD founder, Ebram Louis said: "Before the revolution five or six girls would disappear each month. Now the average is 15."
The organisation reports that in the case of one 14-year-old girl, Nadia Makram, the police refused to get involved even though the parents gave them the name of their daughter's kidnapper.
AVAFD says the police often refuse to search for the missing girls, claiming that they left their parents' home by choice.
Even if the girls are located and brought to the station, they are coerced by their new Muslim family to say they voluntarily left their own home.
