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08/08/2008: "Child rape in Afghanistan"

Coomaraswamy went to Afghanistan this summer to establish a monitoring and reporting system on what is deemed as grave violations committed against children.

"In many cases of violence against children, there is a sense of impunity. People continue to violate children's rights without any sense of feeling that they will be held accountable," Coomaraswamy said.

She found that sexual violence against young boys is also a problem. In what is known as "bacha-bazi," or "child's play," boys are forced to dress in female attire, dance and perform sexual acts.

"I can't think of any country in the world in which children suffer more than in Afghanistan," Coomaraswamy says. "In all our meetings with children, it takes a lot of time to make them smile. That to me shows that there is not happiness in their hearts."

[ Introduce enough genetic diversity into Iceland, add civil war, and see the same thing there. I'm sure there are other countries were more children are at risk of rape - like South Africa - but it doesn't carry the same added guilt on the victim as it does in Muslim countries. ]


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/07/afghan.family/index.html?eref=rss_world