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2014-01-06 Afghanistan
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Activists, Officials Look to Stem Bacha Bazi
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[Tolo News] The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has shown new commitment to combating the practice of Bacha Bazi
Prostituting young boys...
recently. AIHRC head Seema Samar said on Sunday that in order to end the practice, which often entails pedophilia, poverty must be addressed and there must be greater enforcement of the law against those engaging in it.
The AIHRC has begun an investigative study into the root causes behind Bacha Bazi, which is a historical practice that has been eradicated in other regional countries but remains relatively prevalent in Afghanistan.
| That work has already been done, and the results shown on Frontline in 2010. See here. |
"Unfortunately, this practice might have risen during the 35 years of war, or could have been there before, but not at the level that I see today...it is very scary," Samar said.
According to human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
activists, one of the biggest challenges to combating the practice is that it is most often powerful and wealthy individuals who enlist the young boys and force them to dance and perform sexual favors. These individuals are said to be protected from the law.
"Bacha Bazi should be considered a crime and there must be a punishment for it, if it is not prevented now, it will continue and will get worse," Samar added.
Most commonly, the victims of Bacha Bazi are young boys who grow up in impoverished homes. Whether through desperation, coercion or otherwise, they find themselves in the perverse servitude of older men, often being forced to wear women's clothing, entertain guests and have homosexual relations with their masters.
"As an institution whose responsibility covers children, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs will be cooperative until the day when we can enforazce a punishment for it in our laws," Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Amena Afzali said. "We want this phenomenon to not only hide in Afghanistan, but we want it to disappear."
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Posted by Fred 2014-01-06 00:00||
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