Bacha bazi

Dance of a bacchá (dancing boy)
Samarkand, (ca 1905 - 1915), photo S. M. Prokudin-Gorskii. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Bacha Bazi (Persian: بچه بازی, literally "playing with children" in Iranian dialect and "playing with boys" in Afghani dialect), also known as bacchá (from the Persian bacheh بچه‌ "child, young man, calf") or bacha bereesh (beardless boy) is sexual slavery and child prostitution^[1] in which prepubescent and adolescent boys are sold to wealthy or powerful men for entertainment and sexual activities. This business thrives in Afghanistan, where many men keep them as status symbols.^[2][3] Some of the individuals involved report being forced into sex. The authorities are barely attempting to crack down on the practice but many doubt it would be effective since many of the men are powerful and well-armed former commanders.^[4]

A documentary by Najibullah Quraishi about the practice was aired on PBS Frontline in the United States,^[2] and True Stories in the UK on 20 April 2010. This film premiered at the Royal Society of Arts on 29 March 2010.^[5]

The practice is illegal under Afghan law, and was prohibited by the Taliban during their rule.^[6][7]

The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict reported, in 2009, "It is time to openly confront this practice and to put an end to it. Religious leaders in Afghanistan appealed to me to assist them in combating these activities. Laws should be passed, campaigns must be waged and perpetrators should be held accountable and punished. Boys, as well as girls, should be protected so that they are allowed the full benefits of a childhood without exploitation."^[8]

History

The practice of bacha bazi is one form of pederasty. The practice has been prevalent in in Central-East Asia since ancient times, when the region was under Greek rule.^[9] In pre-modern times there was a "widespread conviction that beardless youths possessed a temptation to adult men as a whole, and not merely to a small minority of deviants."^{[10][dubious – discuss][unreliable source?]}

Bacha bazi, historically more common than in present day, waned in the big cities after World War I, forced out for reasons that historian Anthony Shay describes as "Victorian era prudery and severe disapproval of colonial powers such as the Russians, British, and French, and the post colonial elites who had absorbed those Western colonial values."^[11]

A number of western travellers through Central Asia have reported on the phenomenon of the bacchá. Visiting Turkestan in 1872-3, Eugene Schuyler observed that, "here boys and youths specially trained take the place of the dancing-girls of other countries. The moral tone of the society of Central Asia is scarcely improved by the change". His opinion was that the dances "were by no means indecent, though they were often very lascivious." At this date there were already signs of official disapproval of the practice. Wrote Schuyler: "These batchas, or dancing-boys, are a recognised institution throughout the whole of the settled portions of Central Asia, though they are most in vogue in Bokhara and the neighbouring Samarkand. In the khanate of Khokand public dances have for some years been forbidden." Schuyler remarked that the ban had barely lasted a year, so enthusiastic were the Sarts for a bazem "dance". He further describes the respect and affection the dancers often received:

"These batchas are as much respected as the greatest singers and artistes are with us. Every movement they make is followed and applauded, and I have never seen such breathless interest as they excite, for the whole crowd seems to devour them with their eyes, while their hands beat time to every step. If a batcha condescends to offer a man a bowl of tea, the recipient rises to take it with a profound obeisance, and returns the empty bowl in the same way, addressing him only as Taxir, 'your Majesty', or Kulluk 'I am your slave'. Even when a batcha passes through the bazaar all who know him rise to salute him with hands upon their hearts, and the exclamation of Kulluk! and should he deign to stop and rest in any shop, it is thought a great honour."

He also reports that a rich patron would often help establish a favorite dancer in business after he had grown too old to carry on his profession.^[12]

A 2011 study in Pakistan involving four boys found similarities and differences between the practice in Pakistan and those observed in Uzbekistan in the 1970s by Ingeborg Baldauf.^[13]

Media coverage

Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi made and released a documentary titled "The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan" about the practice, made after the end of his exile from the country. PBS Frontline aired it in the U.S.,^[2] and 'True Stories' in the U.K. on 20 April 2010.^[5] Journalist Nicholas Graham of The Huffington Post also lauded the documentary as "both fascinating and horrifying."^[14] The issue has been covered by RAWA, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.^[15] The practice of 'Bacha bazi' has also prompted the US Defense Department to hire social scientist AnnaMaria Cardinalli to investigate the problem, as Western soldiers on patrol often passed older men walking hand-in-hand with pretty young boys. British soldiers found that young Afghan men were actually trying to "touch and fondle them," which the soldiers didn't understand.^[16]

In the novel The Kite Runner, as well in a motion picture of the same name based on the novel, the practice of bacha bazi is depicted. In the plot, the protagonist's half-nephew is forced to become a dancing boy and sexual slave to a high-ranking official of the Taliban government, who also had, years earlier, raped the boy's father when both were young teenagers.

In December 2010 a Wikileaks cable revealed that a US company, DynCorp had spent money on pimps who purchased young boys for Afghan policemen. The boys were used in Bacha bazi.^[17]

See also

	Afghanistan portal
	Human rights portal
	LGBT portal

• Bacha posh – an inverse Afghan tradition where girls are dressed up as boys
• Köçek
• Ghilman
• Tellak
• Obeid e zakani
• Child sexual abuse
• List of transgender-related topics
• LGBT topics and Islam
• Human rights in Afghanistan
• Man boy love
• NAMBLA
• Pederasty

References

1. ^ "Boys in Afghanistan Sold Into Prostitution, Sexual Slavery", Digital Journal, Nov 20, 2007
2. ^ ^{a b c} "The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan", PBS FRONTLINE TV documentary, April 20, 2010.
3. ^ Qobil, Rustam (7 September 2010). "The sexually abused dancing boys of Afghanistan". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11217772. 
4. ^ "Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords". Reuters. 2007-11-18. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSISL1848920071119?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true. Retrieved 2007-11-24. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "True Stories: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan", Royal Society of Arts, screening 29 March 2010; 18:30
6. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/view/
7. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-22/the-warlords-tune-afghanistans-war-on-children/338920
8. ^ http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/14-october-2009-general-assembly.html
9. ^ http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/14-october-2009-general-assembly.html
10. ^ El-Rouayheb, 2005. Op.cit. p.115
11. ^ Shay, Anthony. "The Male Dancer in the Middle East and Central Asia". http://artira.com/danceforum/articles/shay_maledancer.html. Retrieved 2008-07-07 
12. ^ Schuyler, Eugene, Turkistan: Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Khokand, Bukhara and Kuldja (London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington) 1876 Vol.I pp132-3
13. ^ Jan Willem de Lind van Wijngaarden & Bushra Rani (2011): Male adolescent concubinage in Peshawar, Northwestern Pakistan, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 13:9, 1061-107
14. ^ Graham, Nicholas. "'Dancing Boys Of Afghanistan': Bacha Bazi Documentary Exposes Horrific Sexual Abuse Of Young Afghan Boys (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/22/dancing-boys-of-afghanist_n_548428.html. Retrieved July 3, 2010. 
15. ^ Some Afghan Men Form Sexual Relationships With Young Boys
16. ^ Afghanistan's dirty little secret SF Gate
17. ^ Boone, Jon (2 December 2010). "Foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys', WikiLeaks cable reveals". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/foreign-contractors-hired-dancing-boys. 

External links

• Reuters, "Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords"
• Bannerman, Mark, The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Co.) News, 22 Feb 2010.