This photo of a young Afgan dancing boy
Many boys feeling they have no choice or are poor will engage in this activity. If they have no father, this becomes the only source of income for the family. The bacha bazi 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. I read where one man is quoted as saying : "Some men enjoy playing with dogs, some with women. I enjoy playing with boys." One of the reasons why the practice had become more common, one of which was the growing influence of local strongmen, who regard bacha baazi as status symbols. Militia commanders and other men of substance buy and sell good-looking boys, using the bacha baazi parties as marketplaces. which was the growing influence of local strongmen, who regard bacha baazi as status symbols. It used to be that only a few people had boys. Now everyone owns one and the authorities don’t care about it at all. It’s seen as a disgrace if you don’t have dancing boys at your wedding. Commanders and wealthy men arrange parties in order to select a bacha bereesh. Many of the men make their boys dance at these parties, and other men choose one and pay for him. By the end of the party, the boy has acquired a new owner. Commanders often take their boys to a market and buy them beautiful clothes, as a challenge to other commanders. Sometimes they even give them cars. That gives them a very big reputation. Bacha bazi has increased tremendously lately and is still on the rise. In the past, people were ashamed of it, and tried to hide it. Now nobody is shy about it, and they participate openly in these parties. This has led to a rise in immoral behaviour among boys, and if nothing is done about it, this trend will continue.
