the dancing boys of afghanistan
educational dvds of the dancing boys of afghanistan are available from shoppbs for teachers .
' he' s touching the boy with his cotton clothes,' a musician sang on the 2009 documentary, the dancing boys of afghanistan .
once the party is over, and the dancing has finished, the true horror of their role is revealed .
bacha bazi, which translate as' boy play', is on the surface a harmless form of entertainment - young boys dancing for the entertainment of their elders .
sordid: this young boy - filmed as part of the documentary, the dancing boys of afghanistan - is another bacha bereesh. but these boys are not just dancers, but often sexually abused, by their masters and sometimes by their friends, kept as little more than sex slaves
dancing boys are picked out at a young age by men who cruise the streets looking for effeminate boys among the poor and vulnerable. they offer them money and food .
afghanistan is a country where islamic values are cherished so i asked a grand mullah at the shrine of ali in mazar - e sharif - the holiest place in afghanistan - for his views on bachabaze .
sexual slavery involving boys as young as 10 is being condoned and in many cases protected by authorities in northern afghanistan .
' when the boys are beautiful it shows they are powerful, but also the number. you have to spend a lot of money to pay the boys, feed the boys, keep them clothed .
according to our research these dancing boys are used by powerful men for sex ,
mr alimy said .
you can hear the entire documentary' afghanistan' s dancing boys' on 8 september from 0905gmt on the bbc world service, or you can listen online by clicking here. this programme is part of the bbc world service' s world stories series .
wealthy former warlords in baghlan, a northern province of afghanistan, recruit adolescent boys for sex and entertainment, while local authorities remain powerless in stopping the practice .
she explains she is deeply pessimistic about the future of these children and the capacity of officials to stop the trade in young boys .
soldiers fighting in afghanistan after 2001 spoke of their surprise at watching grown men walking down the streets of the conservative country, hand in hand with a young boy .
photo: a 15 - year - old' dancing boy' performs before a large group of men .
in afghanistan, impoverished boys are being forced into a life of abuse as a result of bacha bazi – dancing boys – an old practice that sees wealthy or powerful men exploit underage boys as sexual partners. although it is illegal, afghan authorities have failed to put a stop to the practice. (video by wali sabawoon; reporting by weda baraki; narrated by frud bezhan )
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 .
private dancer: the practice of bacha bazi (' boy for play') is growing in afghanistan. photograph: ghaith abdul - ahad
and dr sobhrang dreams of setting up a home, where the boys will finally be safe .
when we leave the party at two in the morning a teenage boy is still dancing and offering drugs to the men around him .
but at 24, he is getting far too old to remain a dancing boy .
afghanistan' s poverty has been a driving force in the rise of bacha bazi in the last 15 years. it makes it easy for predators to prowl the streets targeting' pretty' young boys, enticing them from their families with promises of work or education .
later into the night, once the dancing is over, the boys are frequently shared with close friends, for sexual favors. and by the end of the evening it is not at all uncommon for the boy to have a new owner, as the parties often provide the opportunity for buying and selling .
according to abdulkhabir uchqun, an mp from northern afghanistan, the tradition is not just alive, but steadily growing .
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the few boys the inquiry did managed to speak to revealed they dreamed of running away, despite the threats of violence and even murder, but had nowhere to turn .
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 .
the bacha bereesh, between the ages of 14 to 18 (though 14 seems to be the preferred age), are dressed in special women’s clothing, with bells tied to their feet, and paraded out to dance at parties and weddings. in general, the practice of men dancing at parties is relatively common in afghanistan ,
“unfortunately i have to say that this type of dancing, sexual abuse and even the sale of boys has been going on for years, ” he says. “it is a despicable culture. the boys involved are usually poor, underage or orphans, and they are forced into it by their economic circumstances .
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 .
in afghanistan women are not allowed to dance in public, but boys can be made to dance in women' s clothing - and they are often sexually abused .
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 .
cycle: but with the boys pushed out of society, they have few options. batoor explained many of them turned to drugs or alcohol to cope
it' s after midnight. i' m at a wedding party in a remote village in northern afghanistan .
the group' s head, musa mahmudi, says while it is common in many parts of afghanistan there have been no studies to determine how many children are abused across the country .
the most disturbing thing is what happens after the parties. often the boys are taken to hotels and sexually abused .
but with the fall of the extremist group, bacha bazi returned. it quickly became so acceptable that even the police would be sat among the dozen or so men cheering the boys on .
it is said one of the country' s favourite sayings is women are for children, boys are for pleasure .
in kabul and other afghan cities, bacha bazi cds and dvds are widely on sale from street stalls and carts, serving an audience who can' t afford the real thing. in many of the cafes, men sit drinking tea and watching grainy images of boys dancing .
it was there that i met zabi (again not his real name), a 40 - year - old man who is proud to have three dancing boys .
mohammad zaher zafari, head of the northern branch of the afghan independent human rights commission, bemoans the government’s inability to take action .
large halls provide the venues for the weekly parties where the boys’ owners, invite their friends to watch them dancing. several different types of dances are popular, daad says, and if the boy refuses to dance or performs badly, his master beats him with a long stick .
dancing boy: shukur, 21 in this picture, was kidnapped in kabul when he was 12 years old and taken to kunduz where he was kept as a bacha bereesh - a dancing boy - for a rich and powerful man. he was 17 when he escaped, and began making a living from his dancing
the streets of afghanistan are full of working children. they polish shoes, they beg, they gather plastic bottles to resell. they will take on any job which will earn them some money, he says .
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: many hundreds of boys, often as young as 11, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life, many unaware that their real fate is to be used for entertainment and sex. with remarkable access inside a sexual exploitation ring operating in afghanistan, an afghan journalist investigates this illegal practice, talking with the boys and their masters, and documenting how the afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes are sometimes themselves complicit in the practice .
unfortunately it is the on the increase in almost every region of afghanistan. i asked local authorities to act to stop this practice but they don' t do anything ,
he says .
when the afghanistan independent human rights commission' s report was released last year, it found the practice was still just as widespread as it had always been .
in any other country, it would be considered paedophilia. in afghanistan, however, the perpetrators have been protected by the police, scared to upset the powerful warlords and businessmen .
then the boys are passed between the men, taken to hotel rooms where they can be sexually abused .
i started dancing at wedding parties when i was 10, when my father died ,
says omid .
lance corporal geoffrey buckley jr told his father he was forced to listen to the screams of young boys being raped at night .
the men behind the practice are often wealthy and powerful. some of them keep several bachas (boys) and use them as status symbols - a display of their riches. the boys, who can be as young as 12, are usually orphans or from very poor families .
zabi is not especially wealthy or powerful, yet he has three bachas. there are many people who support this tradition across afghanistan and many of them are very influential .
if you have inside knowledge of a topic in the news, contact the abc .
the practice, known as' bacha bazi', is' shameful', says dr soraya sobhrang, who led an nation - wide investigation into the practice for the afghanistan independent human rights commission .
abc teams share the story behind the story and insights into the making of digital, tv and radio content .
the men are said to lavish money and gifts on their boys. many claim to love them, and there are cases of boys who are not so dissatisfied with their lifestyle, demeaning as it may seem .
both prestige as well as poverty are the main motivators for the revival of bacha bazi .
it' s true they make the boys wear girls' clothes and make them dance in front of many men ,
he said .
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the independent human rights commission in kabul is one of the few organisations that has attempted to address the bachabaze practice .
shocking: american soldiers have recounted their surprise at seeing grown men walking down the street with young boys. others have described having to listen to the sounds of young boys being raped at night - but were told to do nothing to stop it
there is no sign of the bride or groom, or any women, only men. some of them are armed, some of them are taking drugs .
a beautiful boy who is also the best dancer becomes a status symbol for his master. a man going by the name of nasro bay explains how the public ostentation of bacha bazi is a sign of prestige :
yet for the boys, more than two fifths of whom are between the age of 13 and 15, being chosen as a bacha bareesh - man without a beard - it is a life sentence, one which will see them cast out of their families and shunned by society .
the boys are trapped in their world - and are drawn into becoming the predators themselves by the time they are considered too old to be a bacha bereesh anymore .
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 .
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a ‘bacha bereesh’ is a boy without a beard, and in several circles a beardless boy is most desired by rich, powerful male patrons. grown men become involved in ‘bacha bazi’— which literally translates into ‘boy - play’. this is a time - honored tradition, condemned by human rights activists and muslim clerics, but it is seeing a revival in the north province of afghanistan. it is by no means restricted to the north of afghanistan only, but has virtually faded in the south, where the taliban’s strict moral code act as a deterrent .
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but the shame is so great, it is hard to put an exact figure on how many boys have been - or are still being - kept by their' bacha baz', their master. it is so covert, barely any pictures exist of the young boys performing their dances .
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muhammad ibrahim, deputy police chief of jowzjan province, denies that the practice continues .
most of kabul' s musicians congregate in the southern part of the city, an area that was half destroyed by the civil war. in a crumbling hotel, an aged guard opened a gate that led to a dark staircase surrounded by metal grilles. the air was damp and heavy with the smell of hashish, opium, urine and burned oil. on the first floor was a small hall and a few rooms, with shoes and flip - flops piled high outside. on thursday afternoons, dancing boys and their owners come here to wait for clients to hire them for weddings or parties .
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 .
they command the attention of the room as they move to the traditional songs, with words which do more than hint at what is to come .
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but there is hope: the report has struck a chord at the highest levels. the ministries of justice and religion have both sat up and listened .
these promises more often than not come to nothing: instead, the boys are trained as dancers, made to perform to groups of men dressed as girls, bells on their flowing skirts and make up on the faces .
this is an ancient tradition. people call it bachabaze which literally means
playing with boys
.
he says he has never slept with his boys, though he admits he hugs and kisses them .
the fact homosexuality is forbidden in islam is swept under the carpet by those who participate, who claim there is a loophole. they are not in love with the boys, and therefore not gay .
the practice of taking young boys to perform as dancers at private parties is known as bacha bazi (literally ,
boy for play
) and is an afghan tradition with very deep roots. under taliban rule, it was banned, but it has crept back and is now widespread, flourishing also in the cities, including the capital, kabul, and a common feature of weddings, especially in the north. the bacha dancers are often abused children whose families have rejected them. their
owners
or
masters
can be single or married men, who keep them in a form of sexual slavery, as concubines. the bachas are usually released at the age of 19, when they can get married and reclaim their status as
male
, though the stigma of having lived as a bacha is hard to overcome. the afghan authorities and human rights groups are aware of the plight of bacha boys, but seem powerless to stop it .
' once i grow up, i will be an owner and i will have my own boys.'
' some of these boys were 18 or 19. if they want to marry, nobody can know. no family wants to give their daughter to these people.'
and women unallowed to partake in such activity. however, in baghlan, the former warlords and mujahideen commanders are resurrecting bacha bazi, and holding dance competitions between the boys .
the justice system is weak, poverty is widespread, and there are thousands of children on the streets trying to make a living .
but behind the devout exterior, the country is hiding a dark secret - one which the government has tried to sweep under the rug .
almost everyone' s attention is focused on a 15 - year - old boy. he' s dancing for the crowd in a long and shiny woman' s dress, his face covered by a red scarf .
in reality, it is often little more than sex slavery, where boys as young as 10 are passed around a group of middle aged men for their own sexual gratification .
we have a circle of close friends who also have bachas. sometimes we gather together and put women' s clothes and dancing bells on our bachas and they dance for us for two - to - three hours. that' s all .
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desperation: often these boys are from impoverished families, and are tempted away by promises of work and education - neither of which is likely to come to fruition. instead, they find themselves stigmatised by wider afghan society, seen as' gay'
but i went to a party late at night in the old quarter of kabul, less than a mile from the government' s headquarters .
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documentary on
bacha bazi
, boys made to dress up like women and dance to entertain their elders. little more than a form of sex slavery! aired on pbs frontline .
' maybe 100, maybe 500, maybe 1, 000... it was one of the challenges when we visited some boys. when i asked them, they said they were owners, they didn' t want to show they were the victims .
how the boys are enticed into the arrangement: “first we select boys in the village and later on we try to trick them into coming with us, ” he said. “some of them stay with us for money; they get a monthly allowance, and in return we can have them any time we want. they don’t stay with us all the time - they can do their own jobs and then just come to parties with us. ”
' a war lord has many - they keep maybe 10 boys, all together,' dr sobhrang told mailonline .
a young boy brought a small metal pot, poured warm water on the men' s hands and dried them with a small, stinking towel. dinner was served: plates of meat stew, thick loaves of bread and bowls of yogurt. then, when the meal was over, one of the guests opened his sash and pulled out four small bottles of tajik vodka. solemnly and with half - embarrassed smiles, the men raised their glasses, whispered ,
salamte
and drained them .
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 .
tradition: shaharyar became a dancer when he was 17, after his father died and he needed to make money. he met his master in a chai khana, or tea shop, and was taught dancing. the master is now his agent, and takes a cut of his what he earns performing for parties
' nobody knows about how many boys there are - it is very sensitive, very underground,' said dr sobhrang .
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he night' s rituals unfolded slowly. in a small house in a village near the town of taluqan in northern
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 .
we have to do that, ” explains daad. “we spend money on these boys, so they have to dance. ”
he takes me to the street in front of his office to show me just how difficult it is to protect children here .
there have been very few attempts by the authorities to clamp down on the bachabaze tradition .
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 .
dressed in a flowing shirt and long, red skirt, with sherwal pants beneath and small silver bells fastened to hands and feet, the dancer stepped across the floor, face hidden behind a red scarf. the bells chimed with the movement, the skirt brushing past the watching men who stretched out their hands to touch it. the sitar player sang loudly, a love song about betrayal. the dancer twisted and sang hoarsely with him, arms thrown high above a lean, muscular body, moving faster and faster until finally the scarf dropped, revealing a handsome young man' s face with traces of a moustache and beard. one of the men quickly grabbed the scarf and started sniffing it .
boasting: it is highly prestigious in some circles to have your own boy. having one or many bacha bereesh is seen as a marker of your power and wealth - which means some war lords can have more than 10 in their service. how pretty the boys are is also important
“i was dancing last night, ” one exhausted - looking 14 year - old boy said, when his owner forced him to speak. “i have been doing this for the past year. i have no choice - i’m poor. my father is dead, and this is the only source of income for me and my family. i try to dance well, especially at huge parties. the men throw money at me, and then i gather it up. sometimes they take me to the market and buy me nice clothes. ”
why did he think other young boys dressed as women and danced ?
because men like women and they are not available, so we act like women. we wink at the rich men in the room, we excite them and they pay us. two weeks ago, in a town north of kabul, the elder paid me 4, 000 afghanis [ around £49 ]. but after the programme i had to shout so he would be embarrassed in front of other people, because he wanted to do things with me. sometimes we get a lot of money. sometimes we have to spend the night with them and they don' t give us anything .
after the fall of the taliban, habib came back and settled in a small hotel near kabul .
people accuse us of being homosexuals and transsexuals, but we are not ,
he said firmly .
we are not trying to be women, we are just dancers. some men like my dancing and give me tips, but other men like to do other things with me. i have to be careful – they can be dangerous. i know how to manoeuvre to take their money and not let them harm me .
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as more vodka was drunk, the party grew louder. its host – a former taliban commander now in alliance with the afghan government and americans – chatted jovially to his guests, mainly local farmers and shopkeepers. then one of the men produced a sitar and a dancer entered the room .
indeed, the government has failed to do much about the practice of bacha bazi, and police force do little to encourage public confidence. local officials do admit the practice is prevalent but seem at a loss as to how to combat it .
accepted: on this occasion, the men are performing to a group of policemen in uruzgan province. until recently, there was no law which directly prohibited bacha bazi - but after dr sobhrang released the report, the government decided to finally act
' now he is 20 years old, he can also take other boys for this process. and so it goes from one generation to another generation.'
disgust: dr sorraya sobhrang, who led an investigation into bacha bazi in 2014, says the practice is' shameful' and an abuse of the children' s human rights. pictured: a young man gives a performance based on the bacha bazi dances
we have 25 cases of such immoral acts. they are being processed and we are trying our utmost to tackle the problem ,
he says .
, a dozen men huddled in a cold, dark room, wrapped in thick blankets and squatting on red cushions. the wind sliced through a plastic sheet nailed to a wooden frame in the mud wall, and a strong aroma of hashish lingered in the air .
mr alimy says his research shows it is happening in the south and even in the afghan capital, kabul .
“yes, bacha baazi is practiced a great deal, especially in the khost - o - fering and andarab districts, ” says hafizullah khaliqyar, head of the prosecutor’s office for baghlan province. “boys are forced to dance, they are sexually abused, and they are even bought and sold. fights take place over these bacha bereesh. it’s increasing day by day, and it’s catastrophic. ”
' in the end he ran away, and he moved around a lot so they wouldn’t find him. he was begging on the streets of kabul. if he’s still alive he would be about 18 now.'
“we know it is immoral and unislamic, but how can we quit? ” asks 35 year - old chaman gul. “we do not like women, we just want boys. ”
in the same room i met habib, a dancer, dressed in a spotless white salwar kameez. two gold rings decorated his manicured fingers. his face was plump and he had a thin, well - groomed moustache above thick, red lips. why did he start dancing ?
i love it. no one forced me to do it – i love it .
the afghan government is unable and some say unwilling to tackle the problem. they are facing a growing insurgent movement. how long international troops will stay in the country is uncertain .
the hotel was crowded with musicians and singers, including 30 pakistani pashtun musicians who had come to kabul to seek refuge from the clampdown in the north - west of their country. one, his hair parted with a ruler in the middle and greased with cream, told me ,
the afghans like us as much as their own musicians. even kendeel kuji [ a famous pakistani singer ] is here .
boys like shukur, who was just 12 when he was stolen away from his family and made to be a' bacha bereesh'. it took him five years to escape, and he now uses the dances he learned to make a living .
we haven' t had any cases of bachabaze in the last four - to - five years. it doesn' t exist here any more ,
he says .
i am used to it. i love my lord. i love to dance and act like a woman and play with my owner ,
he says. when asked what he would do when he got older, ahmad says he will be an owner and will have many of his own boys .
i love my lord. i love to dance and act like a woman and play with my owner. once i grow up, i will be an owner and i will have my own boys .
i am grown up now and do not have the beauty of former years. so, i proposed to marry my lord' s daughter and he has agreed to it .
when i mentioned the topic it was as if i had dropped a big brick, especially in the official circles ,
she said .
he says the paramilitary commanders involved are powerful - so powerful that no one, not even the police, is able to rise against them .
but baghlan chief prosecutor hafizullah khaliqyar has more hope, and says those found guilty of abuse would be jailed for at least 15 years .
omid' s mother is in her early 30s, but her hair is white and her face creased. she looks at least 50. she tells me she only has half a kilo of rice and a few onions for dinner. they' ve run out of cooking oil .
but poverty tells a less sentimental story, and remains a huge motivating factor in the boy’s lives. it’s often desperation which drives them into the lifestyle .
i am normal, but i like to walk and talk and to perform like a woman. once, a man offered me $ 20, 000 [ £12, 250 ] to become his lover and stop dancing, but i said no because i love to dance. i took only $ 1, 000. now we are together. yes, he is married. but he still likes me .
i ask him why he doesn' t go to the police for help .
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in an adjacent room, 16 - year - old mustafa was preparing to dance next. his owner opened a small bundle of clothes and produced a long, blue skirt, crimson shirt, leather straps and bells. mustafa stood on a table and nervously smoked a cigarette. holding his thin arms over his head, he allowed two bearded, turbaned men, giggling and laughing, to dress him like a doll. one combed his long hair, and invited the other to have the
honour
of wrapping the straps around his hands and feet .
the warlord' s tune goes to air tonight at 8: 30 on abc1 .
ahmad jawad, 17, has been with a wealthy landowner for the past two years .
omid (not his real name) is 15 years old. his father died in the fields, when he stepped on a landmine. as the eldest son, it' s his job to look after his mother - who begs on the streets - and two younger brothers .
omid says he is paid about $ 2 for the night. sometimes he is gang raped .
“it’s a good thing, ” he said. “we have our own culture. in foreign countries, the women dance. we have our own dances which don’t exist anywhere else in the world. ”
they are powerful and rich men. the police can' t do anything against them .
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' they have sex with their masters and then at the parties they are abused by different people.'
' he started taking heroin to help him cope, but he was still being taken to the parties .
later, when he had finished his performance, mustafa told me his story .
my grandfather kept telling me when i was a child to be careful of men because i was handsome ,
he said .
one day a mechanic in the town attacked me, my family rejected me and i had to go and stay with that man. now i am with someone else and he taught me how to dance .
he spoke matter - of - factly, then started explaining in great detail about where he buys his women' s clothes. how did he feel about the men dressing him ?
it' s ok ,
he said .
the foreign secretary quits, telling theresa may
needless self - doubt
is leading to
semi - brexit
.
but last september, three years after lance cprl buckley was shot to death on his base, gregory buckley sr told the new york times:' my son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it' s their culture.'
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for the first time, a law which directly deals directly with bacha bazi has begun to be put in place. police are finally starting to make arrests .
bacha bazi is not a new phenomenon in a country famed for keeping its women and men separate. however, it was all but wiped out under the taliban .
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she knows that her son dances at parties but she is more concerned about what they will eat tomorrow. the fact that her son is vulnerable to abuse is far from her mind .
' how can i run away from this place,' they told the report writers.' where can i go? i am not accepted by society or by my family.'
my youngest bacha is 15 and the oldest is 18. it wasn' t easy to find them. but if you want it badly - you will find them ,
he says .
' there was one particular boy i remember, called faraidoon, who was about 13 when i first met him, who was taken and used in the parties,' ali batoor told mailonline .
khaliqyar says there is little that prosecutors could do. “the police and district heads won’t cooperate with us, ” he complains. “they don’t send us their files, so we can’t take action. ”
“i am not really rich, but i am just as good as the wealthy. i want as many bacha bereesh as possible, so that when i go to parties i am no worse than anybody else. ”
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 .
when he was 13, he said, his family disowned him, so he went with his lover to peshawar, fleeing the taliban .
there i learned how to dance. we could do everything there; i could dress like a woman and dance. here in kabul we can' t do much: i can only put some red on my lips and dance .
he stroked his face with his delicate hands and pushed back his hair with a shake .
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i was only 14 - years - old when a former uzbek commander forced me to have sex with him ,
says shir mohammad .
later, i quit my family and became his secretary. i have been with him for 10 years, i am now grown up, but he still loves me and i sleep with him .
he is wearing fake breasts and bells around his ankles. someone offers him some us dollars and he grabs them with his teeth .
i spent months trying to find a bacha who was willing to talk about his experience .
we were hungry, i had no choice. sometimes we go to bed on empty stomachs. when i dance at parties i earn about $ 2 or some pilau rice .
i ask him what happens when people take him to hotels. he bows his head and pauses for a long time before answering .
if we find any man practising it we' ll punish them .
bachabaze is in no way acceptable in islam. actually, it' s child abuse. it' s happening because our justice system doesn' t work .
this country has been lawless for many years and responsible bodies and people can' t protect children ,
he explains .
every afghan i spoke to knew about bachabaze. many tried to convince me that it exists only in remote areas .
some people like dog fighting, some practice cockfighting. everyone has their hobby, for me, it' s bachabaze ,
he says .
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' where do you live, so i can get to know your father .
' but they live as though they are in a relationship with their masters, so their masters keep them, house them and buy them food and things .
' nobody admitted to us they were bacha bereesh. they don' t want to talk about it. if they want to marry, nobody can know. no family wants to give their daughter to these people .
' nobody admitted they were bacha bereesh. they don' t want to talk about it .
speaking to reuters in 2007, ahmad, then 17, revealed:' i love my lord. i love to dance and act like a woman and play with my owner .
' it is a a psychological trauma,' said dr sobhrang.' they think they can continue like a bacha baz .
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the dancing boys of afghanistan is a 2010 documentary film produced by clover films and directed by afghan journalist najibullah quraishi about the practice of bacha bazi in afghanistan . the 52-minute documentary premiered in the uk at the royal society of arts on march 29 , 2010 and aired on pbs frontline in the united states on april 20 . bacha bazi , also known as bacchá ( from the persian bacheh بچه ) , literally " playing with boys " in persian , pashto and hindi-urdu ) , is a form of sexual slavery and child prostitution 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 dancing boys as status symbols . the practice is illegal under afghan law . 
the dancing boys of afghanistan is a 2010 documentary film produced by clover films and directed by afghan journalist najibullah quraishi about the practice of bacha bazi in afghanistan. the 52-minute documentary premiered in the uk at the royal society of arts on march 29, 2010 and aired on pbs frontline in the united states on april 20. bacha bazi, also known as bacchá (from the persian bacheh بچه), literally " playing with boys " in persian, pashto and hindi-urdu), is a form of sexual slavery and child prostitution 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 dancing boys as status symbols. the practice is illegal under afghan law.
the dancing boys of afghanistan is a 2010 documentary film produced by clover films and directed by afghan journalist najibullah quraishi about the practice of bacha bazi in afghanistan. the 52-minute documentary premiered in the uk at the royal society of arts on march 29, 2010 and aired on pbs frontline in the united states on april 20. bacha bazi, also known as bacchá (from the persian bacheh بچه), literally " playing with boys " in persian, pashto and hindi-urdu), is a form of sexual slavery and child prostitution 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 dancing boys as status symbols. the practice is illegal under afghan law.