Bacha bazi
Bacha bāzī (Persian: بچه بازی, lit. 'boy play')[1] is a practice in which men (sometimes called bacha baz) buy and keep adolescent boys (sometimes called dancing boys) for entertainment and sex.[2][3] It is a custom in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in historical Turkestan and often involves sexual slavery and child prostitution by older men of young adolescent males.[4]
According to German ethnographic research, the phenomenon is up to a thousand years old. As far back as the 9th or 10th century, the mountainous regions that are now northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan that were known for this practice.[5]
Bacha bazi was outlawed during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan period (see sources which are dated to 2010; 2011; and 2013).[6][7][8] 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.[9][10][11]
During the time of Taliban rule currently and previously, bacha bazi carries the
U.S. government forces in Afghanistan after the
History
The concept and the custom of bacha bazi traces its roots back to Central Asia all the way to Babur describing young boys being used as catamites in his memoir, the Baburnama.
The custom was also alive during the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia such as the Köçek[19] where young male slave dancers would cross-dress in feminine attire and become employed as entertainers.
A köçek would begin training around the age of seven or eight after he was circumcised and would be considered accomplished after about six years of study and practice. A dancer's career would last as long as he was clean shaven and retained his youthful appearance.[20]
The custom also survived during the Emirate of Bukhara[21]
When the Russians conquered Central Asia in the nineteenth century, they encountered what to them was the highly bizarre custom of "bachabozi", a practice of boys dancing dressed as girls. Perplexed and scandalised by these cross-dressing habits and related activities, the conquerors left a detailed account of this practice [22] and its implications for the social and sexual life of local people. [23] The shenanigans with these twirling boys did not end with dancing. Often these boys performed sexual services for their admirers and patrons. Abdulla Qodiriy, hailed as the first modern Uzbek novelist, left a semi-biographical account of a tragic story about two madrasa students in amorous relations. [24] He was not alone among the Uzbek literati in describing same-sex relations among the students of Islamic colleges.[25] The story written by Qodiriy later was adapted as a play by Mark Weil and staged at Ilkhom, [26] the first independent theatre in USSR and the only self-supporting cultural institution so far in Uzbekistan.
Mir-Alim of
As he rode across the mountains south toward Afghanistan, the Emir, in the words of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, dropped “favorite dancing boy after favorite dancing boy” at strategic points, convinced that the Bolsheviks would not be able to resist at least a temporary halt to enjoy the pleasures of each lad. The Bolsheviks, however, were less susceptible to the temptations of the young boys than the Emir himself had been, and either ignored or killed them in their pursuit. Finally the evil Emir reached Kabul, Afghanistan, where he died in 1944. He is buried at the Shuadoi Solehin cemetery.
Following the introduction of the Bolshevik regime in Central Asia, there are now almost 750,000 descendants of the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen and Kyrgyz who had fled from the repression living in Afghanistan. [27]
A study published in 2014 reported that 78% of Afghan men who keep bacha bazi boys are married to a woman.
After the Taliban came to power in 1996, bacha bazi was banned
In 2011, in an agreement between the
In 2022, after the Taliban's return to power following the United States' military disengagement from Afghanistan, it was reported that the abuse persisted in the reinstated Islamic Emirate, with Taliban officials broadly engaging in bacha bazi.[31]
Formation of the Taliban
The practice of bacha bazi by warlords was one of the key factors in Mullah Omar mobilizing the Taliban.[32] Reportedly, in early 1994, Omar led 30 men armed with 16 rifles to free two young girls who had been kidnapped and raped by a warlord, hanging him from a tank gun barrel.[33] Another instance arose when in 1994, a few months before the Taliban took control of Kandahar, two militia commanders confronted each other over a young boy whom they both wanted to sodomize. In the ensuing fight, Omar's group freed the boy; appeals soon flooded in for Omar to intercede in other disputes. His movement gained momentum through the year and he quickly gathered recruits from Islamic schools totaling 12,000 by the year's end with some Pakistani volunteers.
While initially remaining quiet and focused on continuing his studies during the
After
Bacha bazi, a form of pederastic sexual slavery and pedophilia which is a trend practiced in various provinces of Afghanistan, was also forbidden under the six-year rule of the Taliban regime.[39] Under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, bacha bazi, a form of child sexual abuse between older men and young adolescent "dancing boys", has carried the death penalty.[40][41]
During the time of Taliban rule currently and previously, bacha bazi carries the
Modern examples
The practice of bacha bazi prompted the United States Department of Defense to hire social scientist AnnaMaria Cardinalli to investigate the problem, as ISAF soldiers on patrol often passed older men walking hand-in-hand with young boys. Coalition soldiers often found that young Afghan men were trying to "touch and fondle them", which the soldiers did not understand.[49]
In December 2010, a
In 2011, an Afghan mother in
In December 2012, a teenage victim of sexual exploitation and abuse by a commander of the
In a 2013 documentary by Vice Media titled This Is What Winning Looks Like, British independent film-maker Ben Anderson describes the systematic kidnapping, sexual enslavement and murder of young men and boys by local security forces in the Afghan city of Sangin. The film depicts several scenes of Anderson along with American military personnel describing how difficult it is to work with the Afghan police considering the blatant molestation and rape of local youth. The documentary also contains footage of an American military advisor confronting the then-acting police chief about the abuse after a young boy is shot in the leg after trying to escape a police barracks. When the Marine suggests that the barracks be searched for children, and that any policeman found to be engaged in pedophilia be arrested and jailed, the high-ranking officer insists what occurs between the security forces and the boys is consensual, saying "[the boys] like being there and giving their asses at night". He went on to claim that this practice was historic and necessary, rhetorically asking: "If [my commanders] don't fuck the asses of those boys, what should they fuck? The pussies of their own grandmothers?"[55]
In 2015, The New York Times reported that U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan were instructed by their commanders to ignore child sexual abuse being carried out by Afghan security forces, except "when rape is being used as a weapon of war". American soldiers have been instructed not to intervene—in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records. But the U.S. soldiers have been increasingly troubled that instead of weeding out pedophiles, the U.S. military was arming them against the Taliban and placing them as the police commanders of villages—and doing little when they began abusing children.[18][56]
According to a report published in June 2017 by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the DOD had received 5,753 vetting requests of Afghan security forces, some of which related to sexual abuse. The DOD was investigating 75 reports of gross human rights violations, including 7 involving child sexual assault.[57] According to The New York Times, discussing that report, American law required military aid to be cut off to the offending unit, but that never happened. US Special Forces officer, Capt. Dan Quinn, was relieved of his command in Afghanistan after fighting an Afghan militia commander who had been responsible for keeping a boy as a sex slave.[1]
In fiction
The musical The Boy Who Danced on Air by Rosser & Sohne premiered off-off-Broadway in 2017.[58] Inspired by The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan documentary,[59] it follows Paiman, a bacha bazi who is growing older and will be released from slavery soon. He meets Feda, a fellow bacha bazi, and the two consider running away as they fall in love. In the background, Paiman and Feda's masters, Jahander and Zemar, reckon with America's influence on Afghanistan's society.
The production received positive to mixed reviews. Jesse Green, writing for The New York Times, said the work "[took] the challenge of difficult source material too far... The ick factor here is dangerously high, a problem that the production... labors hard to mitigate through aesthetics," and appreciated the romance but wished it had not attempted "a stab at political relevance."[59] Jonathan Mandell, writing for New York Theater, said that the Jahander subplot was "one of the ways [Rosser and Sohne] are trying to compensate for their Western perspective and the show's focus on the fictional romance. But their efforts at filling in the background don't strike me as sufficient."[60] TheaterMania's review called it "both emotionally and intellectually stirring. Anyone who cares about the future of the American musical should run out and see it now—as should anyone who cares about the country in which the United States is presently fighting the longest war in our history."[58]
After an online stream of the original production was released in July 2020,[61] the work received significant backlash from Afghans,[62] particularly LGBT Afghans, who perceived it as romanticizing child sexual abuse and criticized the white American writers for orientalism and misrepresenting bacha bazi as an accepted "tradition" in Afghanistan. The backlash led many to apologize for their involvement with the production and stream; the stream was removed ahead of schedule. After consulting with members of the Afghan community, creators Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne acknowledged in a statement that "no Afghan voices were empowered in the creation of the show," and chose to end all distribution of the music and donate previous proceeds to Afghan charities.[2]
See also
- Child sexual abuse
- Human rights in Afghanistan
- Bacha posh, cross-dressing a daughter as a boy for increased social freedom in Afghanistan
- The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2010 documentary)
- Khawal, cross-dressed male dancers in pre-20th century Egypt
- Köçek, cross-dressed male dancers in Ottoman Turkey
- Ubayd Zakani, a 14th-century Persian poet
- Anti-Afghan sentiment
- Pederasty
References
- ^ a b Nordland, Rod (January 23, 2018). "Afghan Pedophiles Get Free Pass From U.S. Military, Report Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ^ a b Haidare, Sodaba (August 11, 2020). "'Bacha bazi' outrage after pandemic takes play to the small screen". BBC News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ ISSN 2169-3226.
- ^ "Boys in Afghanistan Sold Into Prostitution, Sexual Slavery" Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, Digital Journal, Nov 20, 2007
- ^ Ingeborg Baldauf's Die Knabenliebe in Mittelasien: bačabozlik, Berlin: Das Arabische Buch, 1988, p.5
- ^ a b Qobil, Rustam (September 7, 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.
- ^ Mondloch, Chris (Oct 28, 2013). "Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy". Foreign Policy Magazine. Retrieved Apr 23, 2015.
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- ^ "Transcript". ec2-107-21-207-21.compute-1.amazonaws.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-14.
- ^ Roshni Kapur, The Diplomat. "Bacha Bazi: The Tragedy of Afghanistan's Dancing Boys". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
- ^ "Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords". Reuters. 2007-11-18. Archived from the original on 2008-01-11. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Bacha bazi: Afghanistan's darkest secret". Human Rights and discrimination. Archived from the original on 2021-08-22. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ Quraishi, Najibullah Uncovering the world of "bacha bazi" Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine at The New York Times April 20, 2010
- ^ a b Bannerman, Mark The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children Archived 2017-08-31 at the Wayback Machine at Australian Broadcasting Corporation February 22, 2010
- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ "Afghanistan must end the practice of bacha bazi, the sexual abuse of boys". European Interest. 25 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Taliban kill 2 people over "bacha bazi" in Baghlan – Archive".
- ^ from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
- ^ Besiroglu, Sehvar. "Music, Identity, Gender: Çengi̇s, Köçeks, Çöçeks".
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- ^ "The Gay Emir of Bokhara and His Dancing Boys". 6 October 2013.
- ^ N. Il’in, V novom kraiu. Roman-khronika is vremion zavoevaniia Turkestanskogo kraia. Vol.1, Tashkent, 1913, pp.94-98
- ^ V.I. Kushelevskii, Materialy dlia meditsinskoi geografii i sanitarnogo opisaniia Ferganskoi oblasti. Vol.2, Novyi Margelan, 1891, pp.451-458
- ^ Abdulla Qodiriy, Juvonboz. First published in 1915 in Tashkent, from Abdulla Qodiriy, To’liq asarlar to’plami. 6 jildlik, 1-jild. Tashkent, 1996, pp.19-26
- ^ Mo’minjon Muhammajon o’g’li, Turmush urinishlari. Tashkent, O’zbekiston davlat nashriyoti, 1926
- ^ "Сайт театра "Ильхом" » "White White Black Stork"".
- ^ https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/WP40-english.pdf
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- ^ a b c Arni Snaevarr (March 19, 2014). "The dancing boys of Afghanistan". United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC). Archived from the original on April 8, 2019.
- UN News. 3 February 2011. Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- ^ "Photos, video, and testimony suggest that the Taliban are sexually exploiting young boys". Washington Examiner. 2022-07-25. Retrieved 2023-11-09.[dead link]
- ^ "Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy". October 2013.
- ^ National Geographic (2007). Inside The Taliban. National Geographic (Documentary). Afghanistan. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012.
- ^ Dexter Filkins, The Forever War (New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 2009; orig. ed. 2008), p.30.
- ^ "Mullah Mohammad Omar, Taliban leader – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 31 July 2015. p. 35. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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- ^ Capon, Felicity (2 August 2015). "Why the New Taliban Leader Could Be a Disaster for Peace in Afghanistan". Newsweek. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
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The Taliban outlawed bacha bazi during their six year-reign in Afghanistan, but as soon as the U.S. overthrew the Taliban, newly-empowered mujahideen warlords rekindled the practice of bacha bazi.
- ^ "What About the Boys: A Gendered Analysis of the U.S. Withdrawal and Bacha Bazi in Afghanistan". Newlines Institute. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ "Bacha bazi: Afghanistan's darkest secret". Human Rights and discrimination. 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Quraishi, Najibullah Uncovering the world of "bacha bazi" Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine at The New York Times April 20, 2010
- ^ "Afghanistan must end the practice of bacha bazi, the sexual abuse of boys". European Interest. 25 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Taliban kill 2 people over "bacha bazi" in Baghlan – Archive".
- ^ "True Stories: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan" Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, 29 March 2010
- FrontlineTV documentary, April 20, 2010.
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- ^ Brinkley, Joel (29 August 2010). "Afghanistan's dirty little secret". Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Boone, Jon (December 2, 2010). "Foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys', WikiLeaks cable reveals". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- ^ Jahner, Kyle (30 September 2015). "'One of the best': Defenders show support for ousted Green Beret". Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
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- ^ "Child Sexual Assault in Afghanistan:Implementation of the Leahy Laws and Reports of Assault by Afghan Security Forces" (PDF). Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. June 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-08-01. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
- ^ a b Stewart, Zachary (May 25, 2017). "The Boy Who Danced on Air". TheaterMania. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ a b Green, Jesse (May 25, 2017). "Review: Tackling a Major Taboo in 'The Boy Who Danced on Air'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ Mandell, Jonathan (May 28, 2017). "The Boy Who Danced on Air Review: Afghan Slaves in Homoerotic Musical". New York Theater. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- Broadway World. Archivedfrom the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ "AFGHAN DIASPORA ORGANIZATIONS AND MEMBERS CONDEMN RACIST MUSICAL". Afghan Diaspora For Equality & Progress. July 16, 2020. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- Londoño, Ernesto. "Afghanistan sees rise in 'dancing boys' exploitation". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
Further reading
- Abdi, Ali (2022). "Bachah-bāzī: A Socio-Erotic Tradition". Afghanistan. 5 (2): 153–171. S2CID 252611948.
- Abdi, Ali (2022). "The Afghan Bachah and its Discontents: An Introductory History". Iranian Studies. 56: 161–180. S2CID 250567083.
- I. Baldauf (1990): "Bacabozlik: boylove, folksong and literature in Central Asia", Paidika: The Journal of Pædophilia 12:2.6, pp. 12-31.
External links
- Joseph Goldstein, U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Afghan Allies' Abuse of Boys, The New York Times (September 2015)
- Confessions of an Afghan Boy Sex Slave, Newsweek (May 2015)
- Forgotten No More: Male Child Trafficking in Afghanistan, Hagar International (April 2014)
- Kandahar Journal; Shh, It's an Open Secret: Warlords and Pedophilia, The New York Times (February 2002)
- This is What Winning Looks Like
- PBS Frontline: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
- "The Documentary: Afghanistan's Dancing Boys". BBC World Service. March 23, 2011.