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

Notably, research in Bangladesh indicates clear linkages between previous sexual abuse in the
home, subsequent sexual abuse in street and working situations, and eventual sexual
exploitation. In the 1997 study of children on the street engaged in prostitution, 36 per cent of
rural migrant boys in prostitution had a previous history of severe sexual abuse at a young
age. Three-quarters stated that the abuse comprised rape and anal penetration. Most of the
incidents occurred in the home and were perpetrated by male relatives and family friends.
Ninety per cent of those respondents stated that the abuse occurred when they were between 7
and 10 years of age. 180 A subsequent study of boys engaged in prostitution confirmed these
findings; it found that 68 per cent had a previous history of sexual abuse, most of which
occurred between ages 7 and 10 and was perpetrated by male relatives and close friends in the
child’s home. 181
The 2006 study of boys in prostitution analysed the linkages between abuse/vulnerability of
labour and street situations and entry into prostitution. 182 Following abuse or violence in the
home, subsequent migration and isolation from the family protective safety net, boys found
themselves in street or working situations in which they were abused. Forty per cent of
children living on the street in a recent study reported abuse by parents, neighbours, local
thugs and toll collectors; 30 per cent by employers and house masters; and 2 per cent by the
police. 183
The study noted that the boys’ transition from street living into prostitution was mediated by
three primary actors: clients, pimps and peers. For 88 per cent of the respondents, clients were
the first link to prostitution. In more than half the cases, clients would rape them and then pay
them. Later the client would return with friends and link them with other clients. One-fourth
of the respondents had been duped by clients through false promises of work, and 15 per cent
had been forced into sexual exploitation by threat.
For other boys, pimps played a role by introducing boys to clients. The pimp would reinforce
his power and profit by offering the boys loans, creating financial dependency, or by creating
a climate of fear through stories of police or thug harassment and then establishing himself as
the boy’s ‘protector’. Pimps also initiated boys into prostitution through rape. Peers drew
boys into prostitution as well. Peer groups often functioned as pimps, taking advantage of the
boys’ social and emotional bonding with the group in order to encourage them into
prostitution. 184
For these boys, ‘exploitation’ is not limited to sexual exploitation by clients. Pimps, thugs
(mastans), police and minor officials also exploit them economically, forcing them to turn
over a quarter to a half of their income. Boys rely on pimps for access to clients and for
protection from harassment and arrest by the police and physical abuse by the mastans, who
180
INCIDIN Bangladesh and Red Barnet, 1997, ‘Misplaced childhood: A short study on the street child
prostitutes in Dhaka City’.
181
ECPAT International and INCIDIN Bangladesh, 2006, ‘The boys and the bullies: A situational analysis
report on prostitution of boys in Bangladesh’.
182
Ibid.
183
Groupe Developpement, 2006, ‘Survival strategies: A study of children living on streets and railway
platforms of West Bengal and Bangladesh’.
184 ECPAT International and INCIDIN Bangladesh, op.cit.
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