It’s a centuries old practice in Afghanistan known as “bacha bazi” and in recent years it’s made a resurgence.Īfghanistan this week announced it is set to criminalise bacha bazi with a slew of stringent punishments laid out for the first time in a revised penal code. They are referred to as “bachas” and used as dancers at private parties by powerful warlords, commanders, politicians and other members of the elite who keep them as a symbol of authority and affluence and often sexually exploit them. The boys, typically aged from 10-18, are coerced or abducted from the streets, then dressed in women’s clothes and forced to dance as entertainment. Rich and powerful men have been prowling the streets of Afghanistan in search of poor and orphaned boys to use as sex slaves and entertainment for centuries. THEY look for young boys who have nothing.
