Pakistan's Shame: rampant sexual exploitation of children

[Blackwater]

Streets of Shame
By Mohammed Naqvi and Jamie Doran

Monday 12th May 2014

Pakistan is a strategically important Muslim nation. It's a democracy and a nuclear power, that's allied to the West in the war against terror. But Pakistan is also a country in denial, turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of tens of thousands of poor and vulnerable children.

"It's one of the most sad and shameful aspects of our society. I have to say I'm totally embarrassed by this." Imran Khan, politcian and former international cricketer

Four Corners tells the story of children at risk, forced through poverty to live on the streets of the country's major cities. Directed by Emmy Award-winner Mohammed Naqvi and written by Jamie Doran, Streets of Shame focuses on the north-western city of Peshawar, where it is estimated 9 in every 10 street children have been sexually abused.

Brightly coloured buses fill the roads of Pakistan. These buses are a crucial element in the country's economy. But behind the colour lies another much darker story. Much of the sexual abuse of young boys takes place at bus and truck terminals. In one survey alone, 95 per cent of truck drivers admitted that having sex with boys was their favourite entertainment during rest breaks.

Peshawar is not alone in its shame. Zia Awan, a human rights lawyer, says child abuse is a national problem: "It's going on everywhere. In the big cities, or small cities, towns. Everywhere this is happening."

A 2010 UNICEF report suggests that traditional Pakistani cultural values of purity and the protection of women have contributed to men preying on boys. This theory is backed up by some psychologists, who suggest that the attraction to young boys stems from the segregation of the sexes, where women are perceived as the inferior gender, rarely seen in public and with very few rights.

"A woman is a thing you keep at home," says Ejaz, a bus conductor. "You can't take women out because people stare at them - they're useless things; you have to show propriety and chasteness with them. You can take boys around anywhere with you and it isn't a big deal."

We follow 13-year-old Naeem, whose parents died when he was eight. His brother began beating him and he ran away from home. He has now been addicted to heroin for five years and frequently sells his body to fund his habit.


The question is, can anyone in authority do something to stop this exploitation? Respected politician Imran Khan says he's shocked by the footage shown: "I must say I know it happened, but I didn't realise it happened to the extent you are saying."Khan says he is committed to creating a taskforce to stop the abuse, but admits it is not easy.

One of the biggest problems is that police on the ground are more often caught up with Taliban attacks and the safety of children isn't a priority.

Streets of Shame, narrated by Juliet Stephenson and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 12th May at 8.30pm on ABC1.It is replayed on Tuesday 13th May at 11.00am and again at 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm and at ABC iview .

 

[Ray]

if one goes by this news as true then it is sad that it is a sodomised nation.

 

[Blackwater]

it is estimated 9 in every 10 street children have been sexually abused.

In one survey alone, 95 per cent of truck drivers admitted that having sex with boys was their favourite entertainment during rest breaks.

They survey done only on Children if they do it on ANIMALS we know PAKIS r even not Qualified for Animals

Bacha- baazi is national sport of Pakistan

 

[Peter]

And I thought it could not get any worse for Pakistan. Also is Islam not against such acts?

 

[Ray]

And I thought it could not get any worse for Pakistan. Also is Islam not against such acts?

Islamic law

The Quran
The Quran contains seven references to "the people of Lut", the biblical Lot, but meaning the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah (references 7:80–84, 11:77–83, 21:74, 22:43, 26:165–175, 27:56–59, and 29:27–33), and their destruction by Allah is associated explicitly with their sexual practices:

"And (We sent) Lot when he said to his people: What! do you commit an indecency which any one in the world has not done before you? Most surely you come to males in lust besides females; nay you are an extravagant people. And the answer of his people was no other than that they said: Turn them out of your town, surely they are a people who seek to purify (themselves). So We delivered him and his followers, except his wife; she was of those who remained behind. And We rained upon them a rain; consider then what was the end of the guilty."[7:80–84 (Translated by Shakir)]

The sins of the people of Lot became proverbial, and the Arabic words for homosexual behaviour (liwat) and for a person who performs such acts (luti) both derive from his name. There is, however, only one passage in the Qur'an which can be interpreted as prescribing a legal position, and is not restricted to homosexual behaviour - in fact it deals with public practice of adultery:

"And as for those who are guilty of an indecency from among your women, call to witnesses against them four (witnesses) from among you; then if they bear witness confine them to the houses until death takes them away or Allah opens some way for them. And as for the two who are guilty of indecency from among you, give them both a punishment; then if they repent and amend, turn aside from them; surely Allah is oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful."[4:15–16 (Translated by Shakir)]

Several modern day scholars, including Scott Kugle, argue for a different interpretation of the Lot narrative focusing not on the sexual act but on the infidelity of the tribe and their rejection of Lot's Prophethood.

The Hadith and Seerah
The hadith (sayings and actions of Muhammad) show that homosexuality was not unknown in Arabia. Given that the Qur'an is vague regarding the punishment of homosexual sodomy, Islamic jurists turned to the collections of the hadith and seerah (accounts of Muhammad's life) to support their argument for Hudud punishment; these are perfectly clear but particularly harsh.

Ibn al-Jawzi[disambiguation needed] records Muhammad as cursing sodomites in several hadith, and recommending the death penalty for both the active and passive partners in same-sex acts.

Sunan al-Tirmidhi, compiling his work two centuries after the death of Muhammad, wrote that Muhammad had prescribed the death penalty for both the active and the passive partner: "Whoever you find committing the sin of the people of Lut (Lot), kill them, both the one who does it and the one to whom it is done." The overall moral or theological principle is that a person who performs such actions (luti) challenges the harmony of God's creation, and is therefore a revolt against God.

Al-Nuwayri in his Nihaya reports that the Prophet is alleged to have said what he feared most for his community were the practices of the people of Lot (although he seems to have expressed the same idea in regard to wine and female seduction).

Narated By Abdullah ibn Abbas : The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.
— Sunan Abu Dawood, 38:4447 see also Sunan Abu Dawood, 38:4448 Sunan Abu Dawood, 31:4007 Sunan Abu Dawood, 31:4008 Sunan Abu Dawood, 11:2169 Sunan Abu Dawood, 32:4087 Sunan Abu Dawood, 32:4088

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet cursed effeminate men; those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners of women) and those women who assume the manners of men, and he said, "Turn them out of your houses." The Prophet turned out such-and-such man, and 'Umar turned out such-and-such woman.
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 7:72:774 see also Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:82:820

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