The exploitation of Afghanistan’s ‘dancing boys’

A growing number of Afghan children are being coerced into a life of abuse as a result of the practice of wealthy or prominent Afghans exploiting underage boys as sexual partners. Read related story.

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Shukur, right, smokes a cigarette before going to the dance floor during a wedding party. He was kidnapped in Kabul when he was 12 and taken to Kunduz province, where he joined a growing number of Afghan children being coerced into a life of sexual abuse. He escaped after five years and now works as a dancer.

Barat Ali Batoor /

Shukur, 21, dances at a wedding party in Kabul. For five years, Shukur was kept as a sex slave as part of the practice of bacha bazi — meaning “a boy for pleasure.” Shukur has since escaped and now earns a living as a dancer in Kabul.

Barat Ali Batoor

Fridoon, 13, begs for alms in Kabul. After his mother died and his father remarried, his abusive stepmother kicked him out. He was forced to live on the streets, where one day he met a man who started taking him to parties and made him a sex slave. After two years, Fridoon escaped. He is now homeless in Kabul and addicted to heroin.

Barat Ali Batoor

Fridoon, 13, who escaped a life as a sex slave, smokes heroin in a toilet of a tea shop in Kabul.

Barat Ali Batoor / BARAT ALI BATOOR

A young Afghan “bacha” is being dressed by his “owner” during a private party in November 2008 in a small city in northern Afghanistan. Such bachas are taken from their families to dance for male audiences. The boys are often sexually assaulted and kept as concubines. Officially, Afghanistan prohibits the practice, but it has flourished in the past decade.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad / Getty Images

An Afghan “dancing boy” is being dressed by his “owner” during a private party in November 2008 in a town in northern Afghanistan.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad / Getty Images

An Afghan “dancing boy” performs at a private party in November 2008.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad / Getty Images

Shukur, 21, smokes a cigarette while hanging out in a tearoom with an acquaintance. After five years as a bacha, he escaped and returned to Kabul, where he earns a living as a dancer. The practice of bacha bazi has grown increasingly common in Afghanistan, and homeless children and orphans are especially vulnerable.

Barat Ali Batoor

Afghan farmer Mirzahan, 22, recently took custody of a 9-year-old whom he intends to groom as a “dancing boy.”

Ernesto Londono / The Washington Post

Shukur, 21, primps in a mirror as he socializes with friends in a tea shop in Kabul.

Barat Ali Batoor

Fridoon, 13, spent two years as a sex slave before he made his escape.

Barat Ali Batoor / Barat Ali Batoor

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