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

concerning level of child sexual abuse in the domestic sphere, schools and institutions. This
often results in exposure to further abuse in the workplace and on the street.
The research has clarified that boys often occupy successive ‘tiers of vulnerability’: first,
vulnerability to sexual abuse in the domestic sphere, which can result in boys leaving home
and entering a second tier of vulnerability, the unprotected situations of street living and
unaccompanied child labour. This in turn leaves them vulnerable to coercion into prostitution,
a third and more extreme tier of vulnerability exposing them to multiple levels of sexual and
economic exploitation.
Studies indicate that children aged 10 to 14 years are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse in
the family and community. 148 In most cases, abusers of boys are adults they know, such as
cousins, brothers, uncles and family friends, as well as teachers and house tutors. Most
perpetrators are male and middle-aged, primarily between the ages of 25 and 40, while some
are from ages 17 to 25. 149 Young boys are abused by older boys and women as well.
The prevalent belief among parents that relatives and friends are ‘safe’ provides impunity to
abusers in the domestic sphere. Sexual abuse prevails at the domestic and community levels
in Bangladesh primarily because perpetrators can abuse children, both boys and girls, with
multiple kinds of impunity, which arise from socially accepted forms of abuse, social
restrictions on reporting abuse, child-raising practices and legal inadequacy, among other
factors.
As in some other countries in South Asia, sexual relationships between boys and between
boys and men are neither uncommon nor socially stigmatized. 150 In the South Asian context,
same-sex practices among boys do not necessarily imply a permanent sexual identity as
‘homosexual’; for many it is casual sexual experimentation during youth, leading to eventual
heterosexual marriage and family life. 151 But this cultural acceptance of youthful sexual
experimentation can screen sexually coercive practices by adult males, allowing them to take
advantage of young boys with relative impunity. In addition is the relative tolerance for rape
in Bangladesh, particularly in rural areas.
Although the cultural imperatives of family honour and integrity are not as pronounced in
Bangladesh as they are in more conservative Afghanistan and Pakistan, they are sufficient to
be the primary barrier against reporting sexual abuse that occurs in the family or community.
Sexually abused children naturally are reluctant to report abuse to their parents, from guilt,
shame, expectation of disbelief or fear of reprisal. This reluctance is aggravated when the
abuser is a person known to the family. Often, the child may report abuse to the mother, but
the mother, fearing problems within the family, keeps the incident to herself. For this reason,
148
Breaking the Silence Group, 1997, ‘Non-commercial sexual abuse of children in Bangladesh: A case study
based report’.
149
Breaking the Silence Group, 2003, ‘Learning from experience: Case studies of non-commercial sexual abuse
of children in Bangladesh’.
150
Save the Children Sweden-Denmark (C. Slugget), 2003, ‘Mapping of psychosocial support for girls and boys
affected by child sexual abuse in four countries in South and Central Asia’.
151
UNICEF Bangladesh (Kabir, R.), 2002, ‘Adolescent boys in Bangladesh: Assessment and analysis of the
situation of adolescent boys in Bangladesh’.
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