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

As elsewhere in the world, certain groups of children are particularly vulnerable. These
include children with disabilities, those confined to institutions 159 and those displaced by
disaster. 160 In 2001, a study conducted by Save the Children Australia on children growing up
in two brothel communities on the outskirts of Dhaka showed a high level of sexual abuse
and exploitation of boys as well as girls by clients, police and local gang members. 161
Among the most vulnerable and largest groups of boys subjected to sexual abuse are those in
the workplace and living on the street. Among 43 boys in domestic service, 20 per cent noted
sexual abuse, according to a study in Dhaka. 162 Boys in the bidi (cigarette) industry, who are
generally aged 13 to 14, have reported abuse from employers and fellow workers. 163 In
interviews with 88 boys engaged in prostitution about their previous work situations, which
included tea shops, hotels and transportation services, 43 per cent said they left because of
sexual abuse. 164
The sexual abuse of children living on the street is well documented in Bangladesh. In a 2006
study of 200 children living on the street, 79 per cent said they had experienced sexual abuse
while on the street. 165 Sexual abuse can be perpetrated by a variety of abusers. Children living
on the street must often provide sexual favours to police and officials at train and bus stations
to prevent harassment or physical abuse or to be allowed a place to sleep. They may have
sexual relations with peers in exchange for food, protection or companionship. They are often
subject to gang rape. Many children on the street join gangs for protection, friendship and
social inclusion, as well as financial support. Gang leaders may assign boys for mugging,
selling drugs and alcohol, or organized begging. 166 During conflicts between gangs, rape of
the younger boys is often one of the ‘prizes’ of the victorious gang. 167
Notably, research in Bangladesh has clarified the linkages between the sexual abuse of boys
in the home and community and their subsequent abuse in the workplace and on the street.
Researchers have found direct links between abuse in the home and community with
separation of boys from their families and their movement into situations in which they are
even more vulnerable to sexual abuse.
A number of factors push boys out of their families and into the street. It is usually assumed
that poverty, or quest for income, is a primary push factor, in both rural areas and urban
slums. For urban children, going to the street is often precipitated by the family’s loss of its
159 Heissler, K., 2001, ‘Background paper on good practices and priorities to combat sexual abuse and
exploitation of children in Bangladesh’.
160 ECPAT International, Plan International, 2004, ‘Report on laws and legal procedures concerning the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in Bangladesh’.
161 Uddin, M.F., Sultana, M., and Mahmud, S., 2001, ‘Growing up in the Daulotdia and Kandapura brothel
communities of Bangladesh’.
162 Shoishab Bangladesh, 1997, ‘A quantitative study of child domestic workers in Dhaka Metropolitan City’.
163 UNICEF (Blanchet, T.), 2000, ‘Child work in the bidi industry’.
164 ECPAT International and INCIDIN Bangladesh, 2006, ‘The boys and the bullies: A situational analysis
report on prostitution of boys in Bangladesh’.
165 Groupe Developpement, 2006, ‘Survival strategies: A study of children living on streets and railway
platforms of West Bengal and Bangladesh’.
166 Ibid.
167 INCIDIN Bangladesh, 2008, personal communication.
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