Kabul to set penalties for subculture of boy sex slaves

(AFP) – Afghanistan is set to lay out stringent penalties for “bacha bazi” ─ sexual slavery and abuse of boys ─ for the first time, officials say, in a landmark move against the deeply entrenched practice. AFP revealed last year how the Taliban were exploiting rampant bacha bazi in police ranks to mount deadly insider attacks, exposing a hidden epidemic of kidnapping of young boys for institutionalised sexual slavery. The revelations intensified longstanding demands by campaigners for Kabul to enact an incisive legal provision to curb bacha bazi ─ literally “boy play” ─ which has seen a striking resurgence in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Link