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

Reintegration programmes generally focus on providing vocational skills and basic literacy.
Programmes take place in orphanages, juvenile shelters, refugee camps and urban
environments. The effectiveness of these programmes has not been assessed. It is unclear
whether the vocational training is appropriate for children returning to impoverished rural
environments. Life skills training programmes to help the children cope socially and
emotionally remain to be developed.
Family reunification efforts are ad hoc and there is no follow up, with unfortunate
consequences such as re-trafficking of some children. Also lacking is case management of
children for reintegration, including family/community assessments of needs, suitability and
protection resources. National standards and guidelines for reintegration practice remain to be
developed. Conceptual clarity on reintegration issues and a collaborative strategy to address
the reintegration of children are needed for the Government, NGOs and the donor
community.
3.4.8.3 Psychosocial care
Few resources for counselling and therapy for child victims are available in Afghanistan.
Direct interventions for psychological problems resulting from sexual abuse, particularly
intercession in the family, are difficult because of people’s reluctance to discuss such
sensitive issues. Some activities to provide psychological support to children traumatized
from the civil conflict are being conducted.
UNICEF has developed a training manual on response to psychosocial distress caused by
violence against children, targeted at NGOs, health workers, police and teachers. Social
Volunteers Foundation (SVF) in Kabul provides a trained psychologist to work with parents
and children, although primarily related to topics other than abuse. SVF and other
organizations that work with abused children are aware of the impacts of sexual abuse, but
many workers feel that direct client-centred therapeutic methodologies may be inappropriate
for Afghan children and parents, given the sensitivity of the subject. 133 Caregivers rely on
play, recreation, social activities and group discussions to allow the children, primarily boys
living and working on the street, to express their feelings and facilitate their healing.
133 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’.
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