Tag: Pedophilia

For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. In Kandahar, population about 500,000, and other towns, dance parties are a popular, often weekly, pastime. Young boys dress up as girls, wearing makeup and bells on their feet, and dance for a dozen or more leering middle-aged men who throw money at them and then take them home. A recent State Department report called “dancing boys” a “widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape.”

Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law.

Fending off accusations that it covered up abuse and obstructed justice, the Vatican on Monday spelled out for the first time that it now strongly urges bishops to report abuse cases to civil authorities if required by local law.