By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

The Afghan government Thursday criminalized a malicious practice of sexual exploitation of children and young boys in the country.

The practice, commonly known as ‘Bacha Bazi’ (boy play), is a slang term in Persian for a wide variety of activities involving sexual relations between older men and younger adolescent boys that sometimes include child sexual abuse.

The exploitation has been quite common among the warlords and other influential individuals, but recently intense campaign against it has been going on the Afghan mainstream and social media.

Abdul Basir Anwar, the country’s minister of justice, told a news conference that the sexual abuse of children is one of the main crimes included in the revised version of the penal code.

However, the punishment for the crime was not specified.

The review is part of Kabul’s broader pledges at the international forums for reforms in its legal system.

Anwar said the penal code has been finalized following lengthy and extensive reviews at various levels.

New crimes that are specified in penal code also included crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide crimes, finance and administrative crimes, misuse of influence and cyber-crimes.

The Penal Code of Afghanistan is comprised of 940 articles in 16 sections and 113 chapters which is prepared in two books.