It’s a centuries old practice in Afghanistan known as “bacha bazi” and in recent years it’s made a resurgence.Īfghanistan this week announced it is set to criminalise bacha bazi with a slew of stringent punishments laid out for the first time in a revised penal code. The move comes after an AFP report last year revealed the Taliban was exploiting bacha bazi, one of the most egregious violations of human rights in the country, to mount deadly insider attacks in the volatile south.īeautiful boys: bacha bazi remains ingrained in #afghan power circles #childabuse /1bXBlm4sWeâ�� Afghanistan Today August 26, 2014īachas are typically aged between 10 and 18. Many of them are kidnapped and sometimes desperate poverty drives their families to sell them to abusers.

“The victims of bacha bazi suffer from serious psychological trauma as they often get raped,” AIHRC’s report said. “Such victims suffer from stress and a sort of distrust, hopelessness and pessimistic feeling.