The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

[qsaark]

As the United States deepens its commitment to Afghanistan, FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the war-torn nation to reveal a disturbing practice that is once again flourishing in the country: the organized sexual abuse of adolescent boys.

In The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan, Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi (Behind Taliban Lines) returns to his native land to expose an ancient practice that has been brought back by powerful warlords, former military commanders and wealthy businessmen. Known as "bacha bazi" (literal translation: "boy play"), this illegal practice exploits street orphans and poor boys, some as young as 11, whose parents are paid to give over their sons to their new "masters." The men dress the boys in women's clothes and train them to sing and dance for the entertainment of themselves and their friends. According to experts, the dancing boys are used sexually by these powerful men.

In detailed conversations with several bacha bazi masters in northern Afghanistan and with the dancing boys they own, reporter Quraishi reveals a culture where wealthy Afghan men openly exploit some of the poorest, most vulnerable members of their society.

"What was so unnerving about the men I had met was not just their lack of concern for the damage their abuse was doing to the boys," Quraishi says. "It was also their casualness with which they operated and the pride with which they showed me their boys, their friends, their world. They clearly believed that nothing they were doing was wrong."

Under the guise of doing a documentary on similar practices in Europe, Quraishi gained the confidence of Dastager, a former mujahideen commander and wealthy businessman whose business interests include importing autos from the Far East. With Dastager as his guide, Quraishi takes viewers inside the world of bacha bazi, where prominent men compete to own and use the boys.

"I had a boy because every commander had a partner," says Mestary, a former senior commander who is well connected with major Afghan warlords. "Among the commanders there is competition, and if I didn't have one, then I could not compete with them."

"I go to every province to have happiness and pleasure with boys," says an Afghan man known as "The German," who acts as a bacha bazi pimp, supplying boys to the men. "Some boys are not good for dancing, and they will be used for other purposes. ... I mean for sodomy and other sexual activities."

"It's a disgusting practice. ... It's a form of slavery, taking a child, keeping him. It's a form of sexual slavery," says Radhika Coomaraswamy. U.N. special representative for Children and Armed Conflict. "The only way to stop bacha bazi is if you prosecute the people who commit the crime, and that's what we need, because the laws are there in the books against this practice."

In the documentary, Quraishi interviews local police officials who insist that men who participate in bacha bazi will be arrested and punished regardless of their wealth or powerful connections. Later that day, however, Quraishi's cameras catch two officers from the same police department attending an illegal bacha bazi party.

"Many of the people who do this work for the government," says Nazir Alimy, who compiled a report on bacha bazi for UNICEF. "They speak out against it but are abusers themselves. ... I personally cannot mention any names because I am scared."

Quraishi speaks with some dancing boys who fear they will be beaten or killed. "If they stray, they get killed," says a 13-year-old dancing boy. "Sometimes fighting happens among the men who own the boys. If you don't please them, they beat you, and people get killed."

Quraishi also talks with the family of 15-year-old Hafiz, who reportedly was murdered after trying to escape from his master, a well-known drug baron and warlord. In Hafiz's case, a suspect -- the policeman who supplied the gun that killed Hafiz -- was arrested and convicted. Sentenced to 16 years in prison, the officer was released after serving only a few months. Hafiz's family says they suspect the boy's former owner bribed local officials to win his release.

"If only these people were punished, this kind of thing wouldn't happen," Hafiz's mother says. "Whoever commits these crimes doesn't get punished. Power is power."

The program will conclude with a detailed update of attempts to arrange the rescue of one of the dancing boys profiled in the film, an 11-year-old boy bought by Dastager from an impoverished rural family. It is a dramatic final chapter, full of new shocks and surprises, and, in the end, provides a measure of justice for the boy and his master.

Source and full video of the program: FRONTLINE: the dancing boys of afghanistan: watch the full program | PBS

 

[Evil Flare]

There is so some serious Genetical Problem in these Peoples ..

 

[FreekiN]

 

[Ahmad]

There is so some serious Genetical Problem in these Peoples ..

Hope these remarks are refered to the abusers not to the whole country. what these guys do is nothing but a crime, this act is hated in the country, but there are still the abuseres out there to take advantage of the situation. crime is everywhere and afghanistan is not any exception.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Ahmeda leave it bro me and u know the ground realities.........

 

[Omar1984]

Hope these remarks are refered to the abusers not to the whole country. what these guys do is nothing but a crime, this act is hated in the country, but there are still the abuseres out there to take advantage of the situation. crime is everywhere and afghanistan is not any exception.

You are right but dancing boys are a long-lasting tadition in Afghan society just like we have Mujras in Pakistan but its wrong to make kids do these stuff. If it were adults dancing for adults, like mujras, then it would be a different story.

 

[Creder]

Hope these remarks are refered to the abusers not to the whole country. what these guys do is nothing but a crime, this act is hated in the country, but there are still the abuseres out there to take advantage of the situation. crime is everywhere and afghanistan is not any exception.

No bro that would be extremely wrong to extrapolate this and generalise the whole country, whoever made those comments i hope they can clear it up we only meant the specific people involved in these acts.

i for one think that this documentary was given more advertisement than it deserved i mean sure the issue needs to be brought to light but i think it served no other pupose than to malign an entire nation by pinning them to this

 

[qsaark]

Adults engaging in sexual acts with minors of the same gender exists perhaps everywhere in the world, but Afghans are traditionally 'known' for this 'londey baazi' practice. Anyway, point is not whether the entire nation is involved or not, the point is, this practice was totally banned by the Taliban just like they took care of the drugs. But now, right under the nose of the occupation forces, these disgusting practices are being revived and this is something Afghans and the so-called champion(s) of civil and human right have to think about.

 

[Creder]

Adults engaging in sexual acts with minors of the same gender exists perhaps everywhere in the world, but Afghans are traditionally 'known' for this 'londey baazi' practice. Anyway, point is not whether the entire nation is involved or not, the point is, this practice was totally banned by the Taliban just like they took care of the drugs. But now, right under the nose of the occupation forces, these disgusting practices are being revived and this is something Afghans and the so-called champion(s) of civil and human right have to think about.

i think Qsaark one should be careful while referring to Afghans as a whole, by your words your implying that it is in the nature of every Afghan and that is a very offensive statement not to mention explicitly wrong. Bacha Bazi is a practise but only among a "few" and lets refer to it as that

 

[qsaark]

i think Qsaark one should be careful while referring to Afghans as a whole, by your words your implying that it is in the nature of every Afghan and that is a very offensive statement not to mention explicitly wrong. Bacha Bazi is a practise but only among a "few" and lets refer to it as that

My words are not implying that each and every Afghan is doing bacha baazi, however, its is pretty much a tradition in Afghanistan and various reports confirm that. The people who are involved in this disgusting act are not as 'few' as you want to believe.

Bacha Bazi: Afghan Tradition Expolits Young Boys

by Amanda Kloer

Two subjects within the field of human trafficking are too often ignored: cultural traditions of slavery and the sale of boys in the commercial sex industry. CNN recently shed light on both of these in an article about the Afghan tradition of bacha bazi, or "boy play". It's a cultural tradition for many powerful Afghan men, but it's modern-day slavery for the boys who live through it.

Bacha bazi is illegal in Afghanistan, but the practice is still thriving. Boys are taken from their families at a young age and sold or given to wealthy and powerful business men, politicians, and military commanders. The boys are dressed in women's clothing and makeup and forced to dance to entertain their master and his guests. They are also forced to perform sex acts on their master or his guests. The few boys who are able to escape their slavery have a difficult time ever making a living doing anything else. They are forever branded in society as a bacha bereesh, or a "boy without a beard," a boy who dances and dresses as a woman.

Their plight is not unlike that of women forced into sexual performance or prostitution, who also have a difficult time being accepted into society and finding work after their ordeal. Bacha bazi boys often return to the industry even after they have left, because they have no other means to support themselves. Women who have been forced into commercial sex often do the same. Perhaps so many similarities exist because bacha bazi feminizes these boys in order to degrade them. By forcing them to perform in women's clothes and by raping them, this tradition not only seeks to humiliate these boys for the pleasure of wealthy men, but also to reinforce the idea that women are inferior and for a boy to have feminine affectations is degrading for him. It's a window into the severe gender inequality that pervades Afghanistan.

What I found most interesting about bacha bazi is the prevalence of a tradition based around same sex rape and gender-bending performance in a severely homophobic country like Afghanistan.

I don't pretend to understand the disconnect that must occur in someone's mind to allow them to criminally prosecute individuals for identifying as LGBT or having a consensual same sex relationship and then forcing young boys into prostitution with grown men. My only guess is that the practice feminizes the boys so much, their abusers no longer view the sex act as taking place with a boy, but rather with a girl. But I would be interested to learn more about how this practice has come to thrive in a modern-day Afghanistan.

Human trafficking and modern-day slavery are often hidden behind the veil of cultural traditions, whether that's bacha bazi or servile marriage or debt bondage. But slavery has no place as a cultural institution in any society. We have won the battle to make slavery illegal in every country in the world. Now, comes the harder part, where we also must make is socially and culturally unacceptable. Otherwise, exploitative practices like bacha bazi will continue in shadow markets all over the world.

Amanda Kloer has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. She currently develops trainings and educational materials for civil attorneys representing victims of human trafficking and gender-based violence.

Source: Bacha Bazi: Afghan Tradition Expolits Young Boys | End Human Trafficking | Change.org

The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children

By Mark Bannerman for Four Corners

Updated Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:25am AEDT

Sexual slavery involving boys as young as 10 is being condoned and in many cases protected by authorities in northern Afghanistan.

In a story to be broadcast on Four Corners tonight, the practice of bacha bazi or "boy play", as well as other allegations of child abuse, are explored.

Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi has filmed police attending a party where a young boy is the "entertainment". The police shown on the video include one officer from the youth crime squad.

Such parties are illegal under Afghanistan law and with good reason. The "dancing boys" are in effect sex slaves. They are lured off the streets by pimps. They are taught to dance and sing, to wear make-up and to dress like girls. Then they are made to perform before large groups of men. All of them are sexually abused.

Dancing boys are a lucrative business. Powerful former warlords and businessmen love to watch them and will pay a lot of money to have their own boy for bacha bazi. Some of the boys are traded like swap cards among the rich and powerful, and if they disobey their owners they are killed or brutalised.

The trade in boys is well known to the United Nations. According to Nazir Alimy, who compiled a report on the issue for the UN, there is no doubt who is funding this practice and why the police refuse to stop it.

"According to our research these dancing boys are used by powerful men for sex," Mr Alimy said.

Tonight's Four Corners follows the criminal activity of two paedophiles who search for young boys so they can sell or groom them to be trained as dancing boys. In one case the journalist goes in the car with a paedophile named Dastager. As they drive, Dastager describes the type of boy he is looking for. Then in broad daylight the dancing boy master stops the car, goes to a shopfront and brings a boy back to his waiting car.

According to the UN report, there is evidence that the practice of bacha bazi and the sexual abuse of boys is common throughout the north of the country. It confirms that boys, some as young as 10, are lured into life as a sex slave.

There is also evidence this type of abuse is spreading throughout Afghanistan.

Mr Alimy says his research shows it is happening in the south and even in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

"It's true they make the boys wear girls' clothes and make them dance in front of many men," he said.

The powerful men he refers to are often former warlords who helped drive the Taliban out of the north. Others are wealthy businessmen. Under the Taliban, bacha bazi was outlawed. Today it is still a crime, but clearly there is no concerted effort being made to stop the practice and the criminal activity that surrounds it.

Unable to find anyone willing to do anything about the abuse of children, Mr Quraishi flew to New York to meet Radhika Coomaraswamy, who has been appointed by the UN to raise awareness of the plight of children in war zones.

She explains she is deeply pessimistic about the future of these children and the capacity of officials to stop the trade in young boys.

"When I mentioned the topic it was as if I had dropped a big brick, especially in the official circles," she said.

"It was very clear to me, and someone actually said it to me, these are not things people talk about. So let's first deal with the war and then we'll deal with these other issues."

Source: The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Creder]

Again you cry when someone calls Pakistan a terrorist state where only a handful of people cause all the mayhem yet you refuse to extend the same courtesy towards our neighbours that you expect from others.

Quote: Frontline

"In Afghanistan today, in the midst of war and endemic poverty, an ancient tradition--banned when the Taliban were in power--has re-emerged across the country. It's called Bacha Bazi, translated literally as "boy play." Hundreds of boys, some as young as eleven, street orphans or boys bought from poor families by former warlords and powerful businessmen, are dressed in woman's clothes, taught to sing and dance for the entertainment of male audiences, and then sold to the highest bidder or traded among the men for sex. With remarkable access inside a Bacha Bazi ring operating in Northern Afghanistan, Najibullah Quraishi, an Afghan journalist, investigates this practice, still illegal under Afghan law, talking with the boys, their families, and their masters, exposing the sexual abuse and even murders of the boys, and documenting how Afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes are sometimes themselves complicit in the practice."

This practise is mostly prevalent in the northern areas to the best of my knowledge but even if it isnt i would request you to stop slandering all of Afghanistan because this is not what they are.

 

[qsaark]

Again you cry when someone calls Pakistan a terrorist state where only a handful of people cause all the mayhem yet you refuse to extend the same courtesy towards our neighbours that you expect from others.

Quote: Frontline



This practise is mostly prevalent in the northern areas to the best of my knowledge but even if it isnt i would request you to stop slandering all of Afghanistan because this is not what they are.

I will suggest you to do some more reading before becoming an attorney for someone; A case can not be won with sketchy knowledge.

I never said that every Afghan is a 'londey baaz', you are inserting your words in my mouth which you better avoid.

'Mostly prevalent in Northern areas' is 'few' for you? Do you know the meaning of the word 'Prevalent'?

As far as 'slender' is concerned, leave this to the Mods who can judge my words as well as intentions behind those words better and if they find something wrong, they'll go ahead and either warn me or delete the posts.

 

[Creder]

^ Its called common courtesy man but by all means continue with your BS

Also "slander"

slander (slanders plural & 3rd person present) (slandering present participle) (slandered past tense & past participle )
1 n-var Slander is an untrue spoken statement about someone which is intended to damage their reputation. Compare libel.
Dr. Bach is now suing the company for slander...
2 verb To slander someone means to say untrue things about them in order to damage their reputation.
He has been questioned on suspicion of slandering the Prime Minister.

Definition "slander" - Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus, spelling "slander" - Reverso

 

[qsaark]

Ignored by society, Afghan dancing boys suffer centuries-old tradition

By Atia Abawi, CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A young boy dressed in women's clothing, his face caked in make-up, dances the night away for a crowd of men.

The bells on his feet chime away, mimicking the entertainment and sexual appeal of female dancers. But there is no mistaking his pubescent body and face as he concentrates, focusing on every step in order to please his master and his master's guests.

This all played out in a video that CNN obtained from a person involved in the parties. (Ignored by society, Afghan dancing boys suffer centuries-old tradition - CNN.com)

The boy is but one youth among many throughout the country forced into an age-old underground tradition known as "bacha bazi," or "boy play," in which young boys are taken from their families, made to dance and used as sex slaves by powerful men. The number of boys involved is unknown -- the practice has been going on for centuries, in a country where such practices are overshadowed by conflict and war.

"It's pretty much unappreciated by [the] society, unaccepted and illegal," said Mohammad Musa Mahmodi of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, one of the few organizations in the country working to end "bacha bazi."

Islamic scholars have denounced "bacha bazi" as immoral but the practice continues in Afghanistan, where the government is in the throes of an increasingly bloody battle with insurgent Taliban militants and is also working to recover from decades of conflict.

The abuse stays on the backburner of issues in Afghanistan. People are aware of it, but they don't really talk about it. Almost everyone in the country is coping with some level of injustice, and they are just trying to survive.

It is widely known among the population that, most of the time it is commanders, high-ranking officials and their friends who partake in the abuse of the boys.

"It continues because of the culture of impunity and lack of legal provision against this practice," Mahmodi explained.

Farhad,19, and Jamel, 20, are two grown dancers who were forced into "bacha bazi" about five years ago.

Farhad was 13 when his older neighbor tricked him into coming to his home. He was made to watch a sex tape and then raped. After the brutal assault, he was taken to another location where he was locked up and used as a sex slave for five months.

"I got used to him," Farhad said, trying to explain why he stayed with his neighbor after the traumatizing experience.

"He would sometimes take me to parties, and sometimes other places. I was with him all the time," he said.

In Afghan society the victims of rape and assault --- both male and female --- are often persecuted and punished rather than the perpetrator. The shame forces boys like Farhad to continue in leading such lifestyles, even when they have the chance to break away.

Jamel, Farhad's friend and dance partner, is now married but he was the "bacha bereesh" -- or "boy without a beard" -- of a powerful warlord who has since left the country. He said the only reason he continues to dance is to provide for his younger brothers and sisters.

"I make them study, dress them, feed them. Any money I make I spend on my family. I don't want them to be like this, be like me," he said, brushing his shoulder length hair away from his eyes, framing his thin oval face.

Farhad and Jamel say their families know what is going on now but are powerless to stop it -- in fact they need the money and income they make.

Both Jamel and Farhad look and act more like women than men, a trait that can be deadly in Afghanistan's male-dominated society. Even the police can't be counted on for protection.

Farhad said that he was taken from a party by four police officers one night and almost gang raped at the station Before their commander walked in and stopped the assault. But then, "He said if I wanted to be set free I should give him my money and my mobile," Farhad said. "I had no real choice, so I gave him my money and mobile."

The boys said they are continuously threatened, beaten and raped by men who attend the parties they dance at; parties fueled by alcohol and drugs.

"The nights we go out, we are scared," said, Jamel, who is the more talkative of the pair and the one who more resembles a woman. "We always think about how we will be able to get out without someone attacking us."

Despite the dangers, they continue to dance, making $30 for the night -- a night that usually ends in assault -- because they say it is the only thing they know and their only way to make money. There are no opportunities in Afghanistan for people like them.

And once branded as men who danced as women, there is no turning back.

"We are not happy with this line of work," Jamel said. "We say that it would be better if God could just kill us rather than living like this."

Source: Ignored by society, Afghan dancing boys suffer centuries-old tradition - CNN.com

Long live occupation forces, long live the unholy alliance of the occupation forces and the northern alliance.

 

[Creder]

I hope the red lines is sarcasm anyways the message i was trying to convey got lost. It wasnt to snub the topic rather than to avoid hurtful sentiments towards our brothers from Afghanistan who are visiting these forums