Bacha Bazi In Afghanistan

Bacha Bazi is also called bacchá (means “child, young man, calf”). It involves sexual slavery for prepubescent and teenage boys, who are sold to wealthy men for entertainment. Many men consider it a status symbol, not a source of shame. For some Pashtuns it’s something to be proud of.

Najibullah Quraishi did a documentary on Frontline about it. See the video below:

Out of the recent Wikileaks cables comes this shocker about private security contractor DynCorp. Now, DynCorp is contracted to train the local police in Afghanstan. The leaked cable talks about a meeting between the US assistant ambassador and the Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar, where Atmar was concerned about a party in Kunduz that DynCorp helped sponsor.

The party was a bacha bazi party, which involves dancing boys who are later “auctioned off”. You can guess where that leads. Anyway, Atmar was understandibly afraid that this story would leak to a reporter (even a videotape of the party was said to exist). US diplomats weren’t as concerned, as they felt (or perhaps they made sure that) the story would be watered down enough. Sure enough, a Washington Post article on the event merely slaps DynCorp on the wrist for “questionable management oversight” and the bacha bazi was reduced to merely a “tribal dance.”

Source: Houston Press

“Having a boy has become a custom for us,” Enayatullah, a 42-year-old in Baghlan province, told a Reuters reporter. “Whoever wants to show off should have a boy.
In Islamic law… Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can’t even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle. “How can you fall in love if you can’t see her face,” 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. “We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful.”

Source: SF Gate