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

female children in prostitution are hidden, girls primarily in brothels and boys in more
informal situations. Many of the children living and working on the street in urban areas may
engage in periodic ‘survival sex’, exchanging sexual favours in return for food, shelter,
protection and money. Considering the large number of boys separated from their families, it
is safe to assume that many boys in Dhaka and other urban areas are victims of sexual
exploitation as well as sexual abuse.
Boys living on the street, migrant boys and boys working as child labourers are most at risk of
sexual exploitation. 173 Most of them come from poor, single-parent families, both rural and
urban, and have little education. In research covering boys fully engaged in prostitution, onethird
of the respondents stated that they had lost one or both of their parents. 174 For half of the
children, both parents were illiterate. Seventy per cent of those interviewed came from rural
areas, half of whom had migrated to the city alone. The remainder came from urban slums,
many still living with their parents or other family members. 175 Boys entered prostitution
around 11 to 12 years of age and reached the peak of their ‘earning power’ at ages 13 to 14.
Few entered this arena after age 16, primarily because their pubescence lowered their appeal
to clients. 176
When asked the reasons for conducting prostitution, 80 per cent said they did it out of
economic necessity. Clients were primarily males aged 30 to 50, coming from all
occupations. Male clients often do not pay outright for sex but induce the boys with clothing,
food and job offers. Female clients were rarely reported, although some boys stated that they
sometimes provided sex to widows or abandoned women in the slums in exchange for food
and shelter. 177
Serving male clients did not imply that the boy identified himself as homosexual. As
indicated in the 2006 study on sexual exploitation of boys through prostitution, the label
‘males who have sex with males’ is not a sexual identity but a situational identity. 178 For the
majority of clients, sex with boys was a matter of convenience and access for the purposes of
sexual release. Although earning their living by providing sex to men, two-thirds of the boys
stated a preference for women. Those with a preference for men, called kothis, clearly stated
that enjoyment of sex with males was a factor in their activity. The other boys admitted to
shame, fear, repulsion and a feeling of noshto, being spoiled. 179 For them, prostitution was an
economic survival strategy that was possible due to the ready availability of male clients.
173 ECPAT International and INCIDIN Bangladesh, 2006, ‘The boys and the bullies: A situational analysis
report on prostitution of boys in Bangladesh’.
174 Association for Community Development, 2008, ‘Assessment of vulnerability of boys: A situation analysis
on prostitution of boys’.
175 INCIDIN Bangladesh and Red Barnet, 1997, ‘Misplaced childhood: A short study on the street child
prostitutes in Dhaka City’.
176 UNICEF Bangladesh (Kabir, R.), 2002, ‘Adolescent boys in Bangladesh: Assessment and analysis of the
situation of adolescent boys in Bangladesh’.
177 Groupe Developpement, 2006, ‘Survival strategies: A study of children living on streets and railway
platforms of West Bengal and Bangladesh’.
178 op.cit.
179 Ibid.
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