SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

Children living on the street the world over are easy victims, and in Pakistan many support
themselves through prostitution. Of the 503 children (495 boys) living on the street who were
interviewed for a 2004 study, more than half had been victims of sexual abuse. Three-quarters
of the children interviewed reported the onset of sexual practice before the age of 15, by
which time one-third were already conducting prostitution. 338 The street, videogame arcades
and snooker clubs, as well as shrines and railway stations, are principal pickup places. 339
After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1978, more than 4.5 million Afghans took refuge
in Pakistan, Iran and other nearby countries. Today, while many of the Afghan refugees in
Pakistan have integrated into society, a large number still live in marginalized communities,
often in refugee camps or in slums surrounding urban areas, where they lack adequate
education, health care and other services. 340 Many of the families are fragmented, numerous
households are headed by women or children and the proportion of children in labour is
higher than in the non-refugee population. Although statistical data are unavailable, focus
group discussions with key informants and adolescents in refugee communities indicate that
many refugee Afghan boys conduct prostitution for survival and to support their families. 341
While female ‘floating’ or street sex workers are rare in Pakistan, boys working as street
prostitutes are found in urban areas throughout the country. However, it is important to note
that not all boys and men who engage male sexual partners in public areas are clients or
prostitutes. As mentioned above, sex between adult men or between men and boys, while
discouraged by religion and law, is not socially prohibited. 342
Boys with female orientation, as in most parts of the world, suffer discrimination as well as
pressure from their families to change their orientation and live like ‘males’. Often bullied by
their peers or exploited by adults, many boys leave home, seeking a community of persons
like themselves. In Pakistan, a study found the average age of leaving home for such boys was
12 to 15 years. 343 These boys are highly vulnerable from zenana (transvestite) or hijra
communities who conduct prostitution. Inducted into the community, the boys are taught the
arts of public performance and soliciting money and are socialized into prostitution on the
order of the guru, or head, of the community. Often, the guru of one household will purchase
an attractive child from another household. The guru provides for the boy’s basic needs and
takes all the income the boy earns through prostitution. 344
The majority of boys working as street prostitutes in Pakistan’s cities, however, are chawas,
those who dress in male attire. Most began public sexual liaisons for personal sexual
338 Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association and Azad Foundation, 2004, ‘KABPS study for street
children in Karachi’.
339 ECPAT International and Pakistan Paediatrics Association, 2006, ‘Situational analysis report on prostitution
of boys in Pakistan (Lahore and Peshawar)’.
340 Pakistan Paediatric Association and UNICEF, 2002, ‘Protection assessment among refugees and host
communities in major urban areas of Pakistan’.
341 Ibid.
342 Save the Children Sweden-Denmark (Slugget, C.), 2003, ‘Mapping of psychosocial support for girls and boys
affected by child sexual abuse in four countries in South and Central Asia’.
343 Working Group Against Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, and Save the Children Sweden, 2005,
‘Commercial sexual exploitation of children: A situation analysis of Pakistan’.
344 Menon, S., 2000, ‘An Ali of Chennai’ In Frederick, J. (ed). ‘Fallen Angels: The sex workers of South Asia’.
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