When Western activists talk about gender issues in Afghanistan, the focus is almost always on girls.
That focus is important—girls in Afghanistan face discrimination, forced marriage, and the denial of basic education. Their situation deserves global attention.

But there is another reality almost no one talks about:

boys are also victims of sexual exploitation, forced labor, and human rights abuse—yet they are almost invisible in Western activism.

In Afghanistan, boys are often seen not as children needing protection, but as “young men” who must provide for their families, even when they are still children themselves. Some are forced into dangerous work, others into sexual exploitation in exchange for money, protection, or survival.

They are children—yet they are treated as though their suffering is somehow outside the “gender lens.”

A Hidden Crisis: Boys in Exploitation

Sexual exploitation of boys in Afghanistan is tied to complex cultural, economic, and political realities:

• Poverty pressures families to send boys out to earn money at early ages.

• Armed groups and powerful men often operate with impunity.

• Social taboos and fear prevent boys from reporting abuse.

• Victims are stigmatized, rather than protected.

Poverty pressures families to send boys out to earn money at early ages.

Armed groups and powerful men often operate with impunity.

Social taboos and fear prevent boys from reporting abuse.

Victims are stigmatized, rather than protected.

In........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)