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

eaches puberty. Such boys may be at risk of sexual exploitation in prostitution, or they may
marry and conduct relatively normal lives. 62
1.9 Sexual Exploitation of Boys in Pornography
Urban areas throughout South Asia have Internet cafés at which children are routinely
exposed to pornographic materials depicting adult sexual acts. Of the materials reviewed in
producing this report, no evidence was found of child abuse through exposure to child
pornography. Research is lacking on grooming and the use of chatrooms to engage in
exploitation of children through pornographic discussions or to arrange meetings for sexual
activities, nor is there research on the use of webcams to encourage exploitation of children
through indecent exposure. In only two countries, India and Sri Lanka, is there concrete
evidence of children being used in the production of pornographic materials. 63 In both
countries, this has been primarily connected with the abuse and exploitation of children by
foreign perpetrators known to photograph and videotape sexual acts with children for both
personal and commercial use.
1.10 Other Forms of Sexual Exploitation of Boys
1.10.1 Prostitution
The sexual exploitation of children through prostitution in South Asia takes myriad forms,
many of which are hidden to the public eye. The prostitution of children through brothels,
usually facilitated by trafficking, is well documented, but may comprise a minority of the
children in prostitution, particularly boys. Many brothels with female sex workers also
provide the services of boys, and brothels with transgender or transvestite sex workers are
prevalent particularly in western India and Pakistan.
Public places such as the street and bus stands are common contact sites for sexual
exploitation of boys in South Asia, and sexual activities are conducted in parks, hotel rooms
and other convenient venues. 64 Contact may be arranged by pimps, friends, restaurant owners
and other intermediaries. Many boys sexually exploited in prostitution are attached to shops,
restaurants and bars, and this is where they contact clients. Little researched but increasingly
recognized is the number of boys, often school-going children from urban middle-class
families, who conduct prostitution for male and female clients by contact through mobile
phones and the Internet. 65
62 Lahiri, A., 2008, ‘In Afghanistan’ (report prepared April 2008 by Agniva Lahiri on behalf of PLUS Kolkata
for MTV Europe); Haber, D., 1998, ‘The pleasure boys of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier (unpublished
manuscript); Reuters (Parsons, C.), 7 July 2008, ‘UN envoy denounces hidden abuse of Afghan boys’.
63 National Human Rights Commission, UNIFEM and Institute of Social Sciences, 2004, ‘A report on trafficking
in women and children in India 2002-2003’; ECPAT International and South Asia Partnership International,
2003, ‘A situational analysis of child sex tourism in Sri Lanka (Negombo, Colombo, Mt. Lavinia, Hikkaduwa,
Galle, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee)’.
64 ECPAT International and INCIDIN Bangladesh, 2006, ‘The boys and the bullies: A situational analysis report
on prostitution of boys in Bangladesh’; ECPAT International (Akula, S.L.), 2006, ‘Situational analysis report on
the prostitution of boys in India (Hyderabad)’.
65 Personal correspondence with Jeremy Southon, CWS Nepal, A.K.M. Mustaque Ali, INCIDIN Bangladesh and
Deep Purkayastha, Praajak, India, among others, no date.
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