Pedophilia in Afghanistan

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Pedophilia in Afghanistan
photo credit fox news
photo creditreligiousfreedomcoalition.org
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pedophillia

• Pedophilia is considered a paraphilia, an
  "abnormal or unnatural attraction."
• the term pedophillia describes having a fantasy
  or act of sexual activity with prepubescent
  children.
• Pedophiles can be attracted to either or both
  sexes.

"Pedophilia." Psychology Today Health, Help,
Happiness Find a Therapist. Psychology Today, 1
June 2010. Web. 16 July 2014. lthttp//www.psycholo
gytoday.com/conditions/pedophiliagt.
photo creditfaithfultotruth.blogspot.com
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bacha bazi

• a bacha bazi is a boy dancer.
• bacha bazi boys are exploited for the sexual
  desires of Afghan men.
• the boys are sold by their familes or recruited
  off the streets and are trained to sing and
  dance. After bacha bazi parties they are
  auctioned off to the highest bidder for sex.
• boys have become the objects of lustful
  attraction and romance for some of the most
  powerful men in the Afghan countryside.

photo creidit www.smh.com.au
Brinkley, Joel. "Afghanistan's Dirty Little
Secret." www.sfgate.com. N.p., 29 Aug. 2010. Web.
15 July 2014.
photo credit rangeragainstwar.blogspot.com
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bacha baz

• This term is given to older Afghan men who have
  boy lovers
• can be translated to mean boy player
• to be known as a bacha baz is something Afghan
  men brag about. It has become custom in southern
  towns and any man who wants to show off should
  have a boy lover.

Photo credit mybeautyworld2010.blogspot.com
Brinkley, Joel. "Afghanistan's Dirty Little
Secret." www.sfgate.com. N.p., 29 Aug. 2010. Web.
15 July 2014.
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History of bacha bazi in Afghanistan

• Apologists say that Bacha Bazi or 'Boy Play' is a
  very old cultural practice in Afghanistan.
• Bacha Bazi occured across southern and eastern
  Afghanistan's rural Pashtun belt. Bacha bazi has
  become a shockingly common practice.
  Afghanistan's mujahideen warlords, who fought off
  the Soviet invasion and instigated a civil war in
  the 1980s, regularly engaged in acts of
  pedophilia. They keep one or more boys for
  personal use and sexual pleasure became a symbol
  of power and social status.
• The Taliban actually were the ones who tried to
  put a stop to the practice of Bacha Bazi.

http//southasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/2
8/an_afghan_tragedy_why_rampant_pedophilia_is_a_hu
rdle_to_peace?wp_login_redirect0
https//www.actforamerica.org/index.php/learn/emai
l-archives/2528-afghan-pedophilia
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Child brides

• According to UNICEF, child marriage is a formal
  marriage or informal union before age 18," and it
  affects more girls than boys.
• In Afghanistan 60 of girls are child brides.
• child brides are at a high risk for rape,
  domestic violence, and even death. Their bodies
  are not mature enough to handle sexual
  intercourse and childbirth.

photo credit alexandrakinias.wordpress.com
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_Afg
hanistan
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Reasons for child marriage

• many child brides are a form of compensation.
• poverty causes families to sell their child for
  money
• sometimes a family will give their daughter away
  as compensation for a crime that they have
  committed.
• also, families will give their child away as a
  child bride to strengthen family ties

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_Afg
hanistanAfghan_Government_Law
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Meet some of Afghanistans Child Brides......
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Meet Sahar Gul

• Sahar Gul was a child bride that made national
  headlines. At the tender age of 12, Sahar Gul was
  sold as a wife. Her in-laws did not waste any
  time embarking on a campaign of unimaginable
  torture. They starved her, chained her in a
  basement bathroom, beat her, burned her with
  red-hot metal pipes and pulled her fingernails
  out. By the time Gul was found, she was close to
  death. She was unable to walk and was rescued in
  a wheelbarrow. After the rescue of Gul, 3 years
  later, a distrought Afghanistan began to soul
  search. The three purpatrators were arrested and
  were supposed to serve a 10 year prison sentence
  but were released based off of no evidence.
  Sahar Gul had no lawyers and the in-laws did. She
  was unaware of them being relased until much
  later. She remains in a shelter in Kabul,
  Afghanistan scared for her life.

photo credit http//www.theguardian.com/world/201
3/jul/11/afghan-judges-free-sahar-guls-torturers
http//www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/afgha
n-judges-free-sahar-guls-torturers
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Meet Feruza

• Feruza was married at 13 and pregnant with twins
  by 14.
• Her husband is her first cousin
• Her husband is 25 years old
• Feruza had a tough pregnancy and one of her
  babies died during delivery.

http//abcnews.go.com/International/photos/pregnan
t-child-brides-15157730/image-15157818
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Why does Pedophillia exist in Afghanistan?

• The most simple answer is the Quran. Afghanistan
  is a highly traditional and cultural third world
  country. The Quran is highly valued as a compass
  of life.

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The Quran

• The Quran is the holy book of Islam.
• Many Muslims refer to the Quran as the word of
  God.
• The Quran is to Muslims what the Bible is to
  Christians.

photo credit kids.britannica.com
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran
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The Quran Condones Pedophillia

• The Quran permits pedophilia.
• The Prophet Muhammad and his followers practiced
  pedophillia.
• A verse that stuck out to me in the Quran was
  this
• And those of your women as have passed the age
  of monthly courses, for them the 'Iddah
  (prescribed period), if you have doubts (about
  their periods), is three months, and for those
  who have no courses (i.e. they are still
  immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is
  three months likewise, except in case of death.
  And for those who are pregnant (whether they are
  divorced or their husbands are dead), their
  'Iddah (prescribed period) is until they deliver
  (their burdens), and whosoever fears Allah and
  keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter
  easy for him. Qur'an 654 (Hilali-Khan)
• The Prophet Muhammad was married to a 6 year old
  little girl. He had sex with her at the age of
  9.

http//www.answeringmuslims.com/2013/10/was-muhamm
ad-pedophile.html
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Afghan law

• Afghan law states that pedophilia can be
  punishable for up to 15 years in prision.
• girls must be at least 16 years before they are
  legal to be married and boys are to be 18 years
  old.
• moral crimes are sometimes used to punish victims
  of sexual abuse.
• there is no age of consent in Afghan law

http//www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/09/afghanistan-don
-t-prosecute-sexually-assaulted-children
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Awareness

• there are many campaigns that have stepped up to
  raise awareness on child brides.
• Too young to wed is an organization that focuses
  on ending child marriage by donating money,
  educating the public, and telling stories about
  child brides that they have ministered to
• Women for Afghan women is another organization
  that aims to advocate womens rights in
  Afghanistan
• Girls not Brides is an organization working
  directly with girls and child brides in their
  communities or focusing on research and advocacy
  to bring greater attention to this neglected
  problem.