Prostitution in the Land of the Pure By Aneka Chohan November 19, 2011 Whenever I hear the word prostitute

the first image that comes to mind is an inapp ropriately dressed woman standing in filthy streets waiting for a client. The di scussion on the issue how cruel the profession is to women their empty, hungry s tomachs forcing them to sell their bodies in order to buy bread for the family. But lets think for a moment; what about all the men, the children, and the teenag ers that engage in such acts? In Pakistan, the topic of prostitution is taboo one that is hardly ever discusse d. It is difficult to describe or understand the scale of this corrupt professio n. The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) has said that hardly anyone has ever tried to challenge the problem of male prostitution thank s to the strong social taboo it carries with it. This logically translates to the fact that the health department does not even have any data or records related t o male prostitution, so they cannot tell us the exact statistics. However, according to the National Commission for Child Welfare and Development, in 2001, it is thought that as many as 15,000 to 20,000 children were affected by commercial sexual exploitation. Free floating prostitution resembles the pick an d choose scheme and is widespread in many major cities where under-aged children including Hijras (transgender) can be picked right off the street. A child prostitute of 14 years can be easily bought with the meagre sum of three to five thousand rupees. Male child prostitutes ranging from ages 15-25 are tho ught to be cheaper than their female counterparts. Unlike females, male prostitu tes are reluctant to reveal specific problems and details about their work becau se of social taboos. Surveys show that children as young as eight-years-old work as male prostitutes. Since they have limited skills to rely on in order to support themselves, prost itution becomes the most practical and lucrative form of employment. According t o data collected, children allege that police and army soldiers make up a signif icant portion of their clientele. The sad thing is that even though many of these young boys are free to leave the profession whenever they want to, financial difficulties and lack of choices fo rce them to continue. They, thus, grow up to be pimps themselves. A child prosti tute is believed to earn up to Rs12, 000 per month which is more than most jobs pay children. Similar to prostitution is the practice of bachabazi which exists in Pakistan most ly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is thought to refer to older men keeping young boys as their sexual partners with the former becoming responsible for the education , clothing and general care of the latter in return for sexual favours. Through a study, the National Coalition of Child Rights and the United Nations I nternational Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) discovered that a third of the men living in KP were proud to be pedophiles. Another 11% thought there was nothing wrong with this practice. The National Commission for Child Welfare and Development (NCCWD) interviewed 23 3 children in the countrys four provinces and found out that a shocking amount of 159 revealed that they had engaged in commercial sex. Out of the 159, 98 were b

oys who found business in public places such as hotels, restaurants, video shops , cinema halls and parks. According to surveys, 95% of the teenage prostitutes in Islamabad, Rawalpindi an d Lahore were sexually abused by their close relatives, friends and teachers bef ore entering the business of prostitution. Contrary to common judgement of prost itutes normally being uneducated and poor, research has shown that 74% of them w ere university graduates. Although one tends to associate prostitution only to women, men, teenagers and c hildren are equal victims, suffering the cruel injustice of being sexually abuse d. Young children are pushed into this profession simply because they do not hav e enough money or the skills that come from a good education. Moreover, young, n ave people fall victim to the cruel and ruthless pimps who entrap them with promi ses of money and transform them into the very same monsters they are. Prostitution, whether it is legal or not in various countries, is a form of disc rimination against humanity. It is degrading, it spreads diseases, and encourage s lazy labour. We must put a stop to it. The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily ref lect the views and policies of The Express Tribune. Source: The Express Tribune, Lahore URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicSociety_1.aspx?ArticleID=5952

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COMMENTS 11/21/2011 4:19:09 AM muhammad yunus As a boy grows up to puberty, he is assailed by his newly discovered and relativ ely high pitch sexuality. He either remains content with his natural or personal ly induced reliefs or needs partners. In gender-relaxed societies this leads to pre-marital consensual sex. In repressive societies, the older boys or men in th e community pick at the younger ones. There is no historical data as historians were not sociologists and were chiefly concerned with military history. It is al so likely that such relationships were cloaked in a bond of affection and accept ed as social norms without any further questions asked - a behavior pattern that continues to this day. It is thus impossible to have any data today as no one k nows how many young and old people are in this game. The relationship becomes pr ostitution when payment is involved or the supporting partner is driven by monet ary considerations. But does money transaction makes it morally any different? As with pre-marital sex in the West, it may be difficult to tackle it by social or police intervention or even poverty alleviation. In all probability, those wh o are in this game, do not feel guilty of any crime and regard it as a minor lap se and they have a subconscious feeling that One who created them with their sex ual weaknesses may also condone their minor lapses - given that grave non-sexual moral crimes are committed by people both great and small. I fear it is vice th at we may have to live within repressive societies. But this is just a thought for I am no expert on gender behavior.

11/20/2011 9:23:58 PM

satwa gunam

Prostitution is the oldest business and sin of the human life irrespective of th e religion, color or race. Probably the only difference is that it is put in pu blic and discussed in non gcc countries. However the existence of the same is i n the equal magnitude across the globe. Majority of them are by force to meet their or their family necessity where as t here is another segment which does it out of greed. In both the cases, it is su rviving because there are some men who have money and they feel that there is no thing wrong in having affair. Question arises here whether this is a moral or a n immoral state of mind ?

11/19/2011 6:41:21 PM Aiman Reyaz Aneka Chohan is correct when she says that prostitution, no matter which sex is involved, whether adolescent or adult, "must" be stopped. But the big question i s how . The main reason for indulging in such a degrading act, not only of ones elf, but also for the whole society, is lack of employment. I think that may be 99% of people who enter this business, are either coerced to do it or because of the pull factor, i.e., it is an easy source of money. We talk about equality for all, but in today s globalised world, there is no equality.

11/19/2011 12:44:46 PM Ghulam Mohiyuddin While sexual exploitation of children is a world wide problem, Western countries are at least trying to deal with it through the criminal justice system. In Wes t Asian and South Asian countries, either because of poverty or because of insti tutionalization of highly offensive practices, sexual exploitation of children c ontinues unabated and unchecked. It points up the need for more intensive social and police interventions.

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