A teenage campaigner has slammed the Pakistani government for failing to protect vulnerable young girls against forced marriage in her native country.

Hannah Chowdhry, 14, spoke out against the persecution of Christians at an event at Notre Dame University in London, where she was joined by relatives of Asia Bibi.

The Pakistani mother-of-five has been languishing in prison since being convicted of blasphemy in 2010 and awaits a verdict on a death sentence.

Hannah, who lives in Chigwell and attends school in Ilford, raised the plight of hundreds of Christian girls who are abducted every year and forced to marry their captors.

In her speech, Hannah said: "Seven-hundred Christian girls are kidnapped, raped and forced into Islamic marriage every year - yet the world stays silent.

“The average age of those abducted is 13. To help you gain some perspective of their vulnerability, I share with you that I am 14 years of age."

The event organised by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity that helps Christians under threat in Pakistan, also included speeches from Baroness Caroline Cox and Ashiq Masih and Eisham Masih - the husband and daughter of Asia Bibi.

Eisham, 18, spoke bravely, often with tears in her eyes, as she recalled how at the age of nine she witnessed her mother being beaten by Muslims who accused her of contaminating their water.

"For the last nine years I have been missing my mother, without her my life is incomplete,” she said.

"I am praying that my mother will be with me as soon as possible so that I can live the rest of my life with her, and I ask that you all also pray for our family, especially my mother Asia.

"We feel trapped in Pakistan. When Asia is set free we don't want to stay in Pakistan - we believe we will be killed."

Ashiq, Asia’s husband, said he hopes to seek asylum in a western country when his wife is released from prison.

Hannah believes part of the reason behind the country’s peak in intolerance is the hate-ideology which is included in textbooks which are part of the country’s national curriculum.

Books used in schools have been found to label Christians as spies for the west.

During her ten-minute speech, she said as a Christian she is grateful to live in the UK, where all religions are treated equally.

She added: "One million Christians are deployed in brick kilns under indentured labour contracts, working 14 hours a day for £3.

“A patriarch will have signed a slavery contract with a thumbprint as they are too illiterate to write their own name.

“The conditions within the contract place their wives, children and future generations under the same yoke of slavery.

“Slavery has proliferated despite anti-slavery laws having been introduced in 1992.”

Hannah and her family have started a petition to urge western nations to grant asylum to the entire family of Asia Bibi. To sign it, visit https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/give-the-whole-of-asia-bibis-family-asylum-in-the