Back باشا بازي Arabic باشا بازى ARZ Bacha bazi AST Baça bazı Azerbaijani Bacha bazi Catalan Bačabazi Czech Bacha bazi German Μπατσά μπαζί Greek Baĉabazio Esperanto Bacha bazi Spanish
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Bacha bāzī[1] (Persian[a]: بچه بازی, lit. 'boy play'), refers to a decreasingly visible pederastic practice in Afghanistan and in historical Turkestan, in which men exploit and enslave adolescent boys sometimes for sexual abuse, and/or coercing them to cross-dress in attire traditionally only worn by women and girls.[6] The man exploiting the young boy is called a bacha baz (literally "boy player").[3] Typically, the bacha baz forces the bacha (young boy) to dress in women's clothing and dance for entertainment.[3][7] The practice is reported to continue into the present as of 2024.[8][9]
Often, the boys come from an impoverished and vulnerable situation such as street children, mainly without relatives or abducted from their families.[3][10][11] In some cases, families facing extreme poverty or starvation may feel compelled to sell their young sons to a bacha baz or allow them to be "adopted" in exchange for food or money.[3] The bachas are obliged to serve their patrons and their wishes, through cross-dressing and sexual entertainment. However, the patrons' options are not limited, as they often had recruited bachas for daily tasks in war,[12][page needed] and for becoming bodyguards.[b] Facing social stigma and sexual abuse, the young boys, who often despise their captors, struggle with psychological effects from the abuse[13] and suffer from emotional trauma for life, including turning to drugs and alcohol.[3]
Bacha bazi was outlawed during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan period.[11][14][15] Nevertheless, it was widely practiced. Force and coercion were common, and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan stated they were unable to end such practices and that many of the men involved in bacha bazi were powerful and well-armed warlords.[16][17][18] The laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders, and police had reportedly been complicit in related crimes.[19][20] While bacha bazi carried the death penalty,[21] the boys were sometimes charged rather than the perpetrators.[10] The practice carries the death penalty under Taliban law.[21] While it continues, it has receded from the view of the public especially in places like Kabul, and is increasingly under public condemnation, particularly since 2014.[12]: 175,178
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FreePasswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
OutrageBBCNewswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f Jones, Samuel V. (25 April 2015). "Ending Bacha Bazi: Boy Sex Slavery and the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine". Indiana International & Comparative Law Review. 25 (1). Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: Indiana University Indianapolis: 63–78. doi:10.18060/7909.0005. ISSN 2169-3226.
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CausesAndConsequenceswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Boys in Afghanistan Sold Into Prostitution, Sexual Slavery". Digital Journal. 20 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ [2][3][4][5]
- ^ Londoño, Ernesto. "Afghanistan sees rise in 'dancing boys' exploitation". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015 – via Internet Archive.
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USDOSwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Unaccompaniedwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Arni Snaevarr (19 March 2014). "The dancing boys of Afghanistan". United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC). Archived from the original on 8 April 2019.
- ^ a b Qobil, Rustam (7 September 2010). "The Sexually Abused Dancing Boys of Afghanistan". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
I'm at a wedding party in a remote village in northern Afghanistan.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
BachahIntroHistorywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Bacha bazi: the scandal of Afghanistan's abused boys". The Week. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Mondloch, Chris (28 October 2013). "Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy". Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C., USA. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Wijngaarden, Jan Willem de Lind van (October 2011). "Male adolescent concubinage in Peshawar, Northwestern Pakistan". Culture, Health & Sexuality. 13 (9). Taylor & Francis, Ltd: 1061–1072. doi:10.1080/13691058.2011.599863. JSTOR 23047511. PMID 21815728. S2CID 5058030. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
- ^ "Transcript: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan". PBS. 20 April 2010.
- ^ Roshni Kapur, The Diplomat. "Bacha Bazi: The Tragedy of Afghanistan's Dancing Boys". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ "Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords". Reuters. 18 November 2007. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ Quraishi, Najibullah Uncovering the world of "bacha bazi" at The New York Times 20 April 2010
- ^ Bannerman, Mark The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children Archived 31 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine at Australian Broadcasting Corporation 22 February 2010
- ^ a b "Bacha bazi: Afghanistan's darkest secret". Human Rights and discrimination. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
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