Barat Ali Batoor focused his project on bacha bazi (literally “boy play”) in Afghanistan, a practice in which young boys are sold to and kept by male patrons—often powerful warlords, former military commanders, and wealthy businessmen—for entertainment at private gatherings, for use as sexual objects, and as a sign of prestige. The bacha bereesh (meaning “boy without a beard”) range in age from as young as 11 to 18 and are trained to dance and sing in women’s clothing, with bells tied to their feet.
As many are abducted into the practice or are sold by their families, orphaned, homeless, and underprivileged boys are particularly vulnerable. Although illegal in Afghanistan and condemned as a form of child trafficking and sexual slavery, prohibition of bacha bazi is rarely enforced, as many of its patrons hold positions of power and influence.
Batoor documented the lives of former bacha bereesh in Kabul who were able to escape their owners. In doing so, Batoor aims to shed light on not only how the ancient practice of bacha bazi has been revived, but also how it has affected these youth over time.
Hear from Batoor as he talks about his project and reflects on his experiences.
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Barat Ali Batoor was born in 1983, to a family that was driven out of Afghanistan when most of his people, the Hazaras, were massacred. He returned to his ancestral country for first time after September 11, 2001, when the Taliban regime was still in Kandahar despite the U.S. campaign to oust them. After visiting the devastation and destruction of 23 years of war, Batoor decided to draw the world’s attention to the problems facing Afghanistan through the medium of photography. His work has been published in a range of magazines and newspapers and exhibited internationally in Afghanistan, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.