The "Bacha Bazi" Boys

"Bacha Bazi," literally translated "boy play," is the practice of pedophilia perpetrated particularly in the Middle East by men toward boys. These boys are sold as "dancing boys" who are dressed like girls and perform for Arab men, then usually auctioned, sold or traded among men to be sodomized and used as sex slaves.

Click to watch the PBS documentary.

This horrific practice is most prevalent in Afghanistan, more than any other Middle Eastern country, for reasons we will explore later. The situation there is heartrending and a huge burden to me, having heard firsthand accounts, observed during my time in the Middle East, and having researched it extensively. I hope not only to address with prayer but, Lord willing, to at least inspire if not be directly involved in action.

This is just personal speculation: Well-run Christian orphanages would be phenomenal. There are a few humanitarian efforts dedicated to ending this, but none address the root of the problem. As I hope to demonstrate further on, Jesus Christ is truly the only way to end this deep-seated, terrible practice. I don't believe that being "educated" on the matter will change the hearts of the perpetrators any more than being educated could eradicate pedophilia in this country.

[Note: It is astonishing to realize how many feminist organizations, our culture and media are dedicated to exposing chauvinism in Afghanistan, when the number of abused women pales starkly in comparison to the number of abused children. This is NOT to say that the mistreatment of women there is a non-issue, but that a larger issue is, in fact, being ignored.]

The situation is a lot more complex than most would like to believe. Boys who end up in this "industry" are not only orphans who have no other option or are kidnapped. For in poverty-stricken rural Afghanistan, one of the very poorest countries in the world, many fathers struggle to feed their families.

[Soapbox tangent: I always get inwardly irate when someone states or implies that Afghans are living in poverty because they are illiterate or don't have "an education." A clear indication of a failure to grasp Afghanistan's culture and economy, this kind of thinking somehow assumes that an "education" would be worth anything in their economy-- which relies largely upon livestock and agriculture for livelihood. Point being, getting everyone an education is not a magical solution to turn Afghanistan's economy right-side up.]

Fathers sometimes faced with their literally starving children will be approached by a bacha bazi man, the equivalent of a pimp, who has noticed one of his young sons. The "pimp" will ask to buy his son for a decent sum of money, and will promise to feed and care for the boy very well as he teaches him to become a "dancing boy."

To someone whose wife and many children are starving to death, the prospect isn't all that bad. Especially with the promise of good treatment, and potentially ignorant of the fact that his son will be used as a sex slave and to make videos.

Some are even sent out by their families to find a "pimp" to whom they can sell themselves. Often, theyand their families are under the impression it will all amount to some humiliating dancing, unaware of what more will be required of them.

By no means, however, is the bacha bazi industry largely one of mutual consent. Boys are regularly and arbitrarily molested in Afghanistan, viewed as trash to be used for as long as they are still  boys and until they turn 18. A friend of mine in Jordan once related to me a saying an Arab man had repeated to him, with a chuckle: "Woman are for having children; boys are for having fun!"

It gets worse. By no means are these boys being mistreated merely by criminals and outlaws. Sheikhs, politicians, government officials and policemen, the very people who should be protecting these children, are often their worst abusers. The main two societal forces that could and should stand up for these helpless-- law enforcement, and their own families-- are often the very ones responsible for their molestation.

Why are girls spared this horrific abuse? Because women, though sometimes mistreated, are at least valued in Afghan society. To molest a woman or sleep with her, unmarried, is a huge Islamic shame. A man must pay a considerable dowry for a wife-- a dowry many men cannot afford. But they may be able to afford a boy.

Ironically, the Taliban was the one force in the nation that cracked down hard on child molesters. When the U.S. military arrived, driving the Taliban out of the main scene and at least partly out of the way, guess what a whole lot of Muslim Afghans did? "Sweet. We can go back to this stuff without repercussions." 

And they did. Not to put the blame entirely on America, but everything indeed has its consequences...

So what happens when one of these boys turns 18?

He is now no longer considered useful as a "dancing boy." After having been abused repeatedly as a sex slave for all of his life, he is often thrown out with no job, no family ties to speak of, no connections, and certainly no help, education, or a dowry to obtain a wife in the future.

Guess what one group of men will accept him as he is, sympathize with his past, hate on his former captors, and welcome him to a new "family," offering him a sense of belonging and purpose?

...The Taliban.

Joining them, his new purpose in life is to make war against a lot of the exact same government officials, policemen and warlords who abused him and plenty of others like him.

And we wonder why the Taliban never dies.

I'm not saying it's as simple as that. I'm not saying the Taliban is comprised mainly of abused boys who have no other options. But it sure is tragic and heartbreaking to realize a lot of what is really going on behind and beyond our brushed-up, patriotically-biased, politics-injected nightly news on Afghanistan.