Afghan Attitudes Towards Pedophilia
I am sure this is not huge news. Probably this just shows my own ignorance as someone growing up and living in the United States. But news stories yesterday and today detail some troubling cultural attitudes in Afghanistan.
If you pay any attention to politics, you have no doubt seen the news surrounding Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has exposed a good deal of classified information, especially as it relates to the US involvement in the Middle East. Not surprisingly there are differing opinions on the group. For some, what they are doing is increasing transparency. For others, they are compromising national security.
I purposely will not wade in on this debate, but I wanted to call attention to today's news article on a WikiLeak document.
Specifically, the Washington Examiner, and other news sources, reported yesterday on the widespread abuse of young boys in Afghanistan. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, there is no worldwide consensus on the practice of pedophilia. In Afghan, boys in particular are being regularly sexually abused; hired as "dancing boys." This has placed our security forces in compromising positions due to the fact they have to work alongside these offenders. Of course, there are cultural explanations, none of which condone the behavior. Because of the way the culture has put down women, it has opened the door for what are considered more "acceptable" behaviors.
The parallel with the Catholic Church's attitudes towards pedophile priests is quite relevant, I think, here. One of the reasons why so many victims harbor negative feelings towards the Church is the way their plights were handled once they became known. In a real sense, the Catholic Church turned a blind eye to what was happening, often in plain view.
I do not want to write a long post about the article. I just thought it was worthy of attention.
To see the article, visit: Afghan sex practices concern U.S., British forces (Washington Examiner, 12/20/2010)
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That's truly unbelievable. I can imagine how this might be a problem for our troops who are there. It is not unlike ancient Greek society, where sex with boys was considered normal. The ancient greeks did not consider women to be people - they were property - so they communed with other men in most social interactions, including the public baths. It was considered normal to have sex with young boys, and this was a cultural thing passed on for generations much like what they are talking about in Afgahnastan.
How sad, in this day and age.
Shen, I see the connection. I am not such a student of ancient history. I didn't quite say it in the post, but I think the whole clergy abuse situation can be seen in a similar light.
There's a documentary and several fairly in-depth news stories about the dancing boys, or bacha bazi. Exploitation seems to be at the core of the practice, as the boys I read about were the sole support for their families. The boys seemed to be like a status symbol for wealthy men.
Afghanistan ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1994. The two optional protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and on child prostitution and pornography, were also ratified. It could be argued that they are therefore making the right noises about change. But it doesn't appear that way, based on the news stories I read.
Hi Castorgirl. Leave it to the librarian to know the details! So, it seems that the law in 1994 has not quite caught up with reality. It could be, perhaps, that this is not as widespread as we think. Hard to tell from the news story and the leak. It wasn't clear how much was condoned and who was arrested and what's really going on. One thing that was clear is that there was a clear attempt to censor this.
If you want to see the brief documentary, see Frontline: The dancing boys of Afghanistan (as a warning, I found the documentary triggering). There was also a BBC News story about the practice - The sexually abused dancing boys of Afghanistan, which is also mildly triggering.
Thank you Castorgirl. I will certainly get to see this, but after the weekend. Leave it to you to find it!
In Rome as else where the rich were protected. If a boy had a gold ball on a necklace they were not subject to the abuse. The idea that having sex with boys was normal in Rome is disputed by some historians. It is not disputed that it was considered OK if the boy was a slave.
Michael. Thanks. I had no idea on the history of all of this. Thank you for sharing.
WARNING: The comment below may upset some. Please take care of yourself and read with caution.
I saw men doing this to boys during Kite Runner, I believe it was. The Taliban are tyrants; they are not Muslims. And people are terrified to confront them. But, as with priests, it's an abuse of position. In many third world countries and similarly impoverished countries, the rights of children barely exist. This is why we must support organizations who work in these countries to protect children and who often do it putting their own lives at risk.
Thank you "blogger from God's House". This movie is available on instant play on Netflix. I think I will check it out.
Oh, my gosh. :-(