Bacha bazi

Bacha bāzī (Pashto and Dari: بچه بازی, lit. "boy play"; from  bacha "boy", and  bazi "play, game") is a form of child prostitution. It was common in Historical Turkistan (central Asia) up until the start of the 20th century. In the 21st century, Bacha bazi is still practiced in parts of Afghanistan and other countries, such as Northwestern Pakistan. It commonly involves a boy dancing while wearing women's clothes, who also playfully caresses the men he is dancing for. Sexual acts are common. It is also common that force is used to make the boy do things he doesn't want to. Security officials state they are unable to end such practices because many of the men involved in bacha bazi-related activities are powerful and well-armed warlords. As of the 2020s, despite international concern and its illegality, the practice continues.

Batcha Baszi exists in two main forms:

Usually, bachas are between twelve and sixteen years old. They serve and sexually satisfy married men. 

In most cases, they live with their own families, but often show themselves in the company of an influential man of the upper social classes. This man gives them gifts and money. For the men, having a bacha is a status symbol. Most of the boys are from poor families. So for the boy, having a relationship with a man is his only source of income. 

The second form is that a person who buys the boys from their poor families. They have a relationship that is a lot like slavery, where their master is a pimp. These batchas have to work as child prostitutes. 

Pederasty, the fact that a man has a sexual relationship with a boy, is outlawed in Afghanistan.  Some men think that the social norms of Afghan society allow for what they call tribal traditions. In contrast, sexual contact between adults of the same sex are forbidden.

Halekon and Asahmna, which translates as "lover" are other old names for sexually available lover boys of Pashtun society. There are poems about the beauty of Halekons. Khorasan was a historical regionb inCentral Asi. It included parts of the modern-day countries of Afghanistan, Iran, Tadjikistan, and Uzbekistan. Since about the Abassids, in the 8th century, Islamiv tradition givces this region as the sourcer of pedersty.Adam Mez: The Renaissance of Islam. Patna 1937, S. 358.

References

Category:Cross-dressing
Category:Afghan society and culture
Category:Child sexual abuse
Category:Child prostitution