Editing Taliban (section)

==== Views on ''bacha bazi'' ====
{{Main|Bacha bazi}}
{{further|LGBT in Islam}}

The Afghan custom of ''[[bacha bazi]]'', a form of [[Pederasty|pederastic]] [[sexual slavery]], [[child sexual abuse]] and [[pedophilia]] which is traditionally practiced in various provinces of Afghanistan between older men and young adolescent "dancing boys", was also forbidden under the six-year rule of the Taliban régime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McFate |first=Montgomery |title=Military Anthropology: Soldiers, Scholars and Subjects at the Margins of Empire |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-068017-6 |location=New York City |page=334 |chapter=Conclusion |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190680176.003.0009 |quote=The Taliban outlawed ''bacha bazi'' during their six year-reign in Afghanistan, but as soon as the U.S. overthrew the Taliban, newly-empowered mujahideen warlords rekindled the practice of ''bacha bazi''. |author-link=Montgomery McFate |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owFgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA334}}</ref> Under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it carried the [[Capital punishment in Islam|death penalty]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 June 2021 |title=What About the Boys: A Gendered Analysis of the U.S. Withdrawal and Bacha Bazi in Afghanistan |url=https://newlinesinstitute.org/afghanistan/what-about-the-boys-a-gendered-analysis-of-the-u-s-withdrawal-and-bacha-bazi-in-afghanistan/ |access-date=18 August 2021 |website=Newlines Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bacha bazi: Afghanistan's darkest secret |url=https://humanrights.brightblue.org.uk/blog-1/2017/8/18/bacha-bazi-afghanistans-darkest-secret |access-date=18 August 2021 |website=Human Rights and discrimination |date=18 August 2017 |archive-date=22 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822052916/https://humanrights.brightblue.org.uk/blog-1/2017/8/18/bacha-bazi-afghanistans-darkest-secret |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The practice remained illegal during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's rule, but the laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders, and [[Afghan police|police]] had reportedly been complicit in related crimes.<ref>Quraishi, Najibullah [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/view/ Uncovering the world of "bacha bazi"] at ''[[The New York Times]]'' 20 April 2010</ref><ref name="ABCfeb2010">Bannerman, Mark [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-22/the-warlords-tune-afghanistans-war-on-children/338920 The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children] at [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] 22 February 2010</ref><ref name="theweek">{{Cite news |date=29 January 2020 |title=Bacha bazi: the scandal of Afghanistan's abused boys |work=The Week |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/105442/bacha-bazi-the-scandal-of-afghanistan-s-abused-boys |access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=25 December 2019 |title=Afghanistan must end the practice of bacha bazi, the sexual abuse of boys |work=European Interest |url=https://www.europeaninterest.eu/article/afghanistan-must-end-practice-bacha-bazi-sexual-abuse-boys/ |access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> A controversy arose during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's rule, after allegations surfaced that US government forces in Afghanistan after the invasion of the country deliberately ignored ''bacha bazi''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Joseph |date=20 September 2015 |title=U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/world/asia/us-soldiers-told-to-ignore-afghan-allies-abuse-of-boys.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921164708/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/world/asia/us-soldiers-told-to-ignore-afghan-allies-abuse-of-boys.html |archive-date=21 September 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=24 January 2018 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The US military responded by claiming the abuse was largely the responsibility of the "local Afghan government".<ref name="Washington Post 09/15">{{Cite news |last=Londoño |first=Ernesto |title=Afghanistan sees rise in 'dancing boys' exploitation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afganistans-dancing-boys-are-invisible-victims/2012/04/04/gIQAyreSwS_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b |access-date=24 September 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> The Taliban has criticized the US role in the abuse of Afghan children.