Who are the most vulnerable boys in Afghanistan?

"Broadly speaking, I would say we definitely know the hot spots. We have a number of clients coming from certain provinces. One thing that has surprised me is the age of these boys is much younger than I anticipated. We had thought we had been responding to survivors, the majority we thought would be between 12 and 16 or 12 and 18, but what we’re seeing is the majority are between seven and 12, and that’s just heartbreaking. "It shouldn’t happen to any boy, but the younger they are, the more disturbing it is. I wouldn’t say they’re the poorest of the poor, but certainly they’re probably not [from] wealthy families. [The parents] would have been coerced and lied to, [told] that the boys [will] be taken to the city and get education. Of course, that wouldn’t be the end of their journey, but that’s what families are being told." How does your program help boys in this situation?

"If a boy is in need or is rescued or is found…[he] would be brought up to our center. It is set up to be as homelike and family-like as possible. We have a house mother and a house father, and they’re there day and night with the boys. Once the boy arrives and is settling in, he would have an assessment so he could access counseling at the various stages. And then [there is] access immediately to health care — a lot of times, that is the first need that the boys have. "We provide legal aid. If boys would like to access justice and go after the perpetrator, we are there and ready to support them in that. And, of course, access to education [happens] immediately. We’ve had a number of boys whose cases are rather sensitive, and people would be looking for them and they’d be in a lot of danger, so we’ve had to respond differently to those boys to try to provide greater safety to them. "But we don’t believe in a center that is closed. We try to imitate as close as possible what it will be like when they reintegrate. Engaging in community — building social capital and being part of that community around you — is really important. And it’s important for the healing process, as well. Once boys have recovered, we always believe in reintegration with family of origin, if it's safe. It’s very key.



How does the experience of boys who are victims of trafficking and sex abuse — and your approach to supporting them — differ from that of girls and women?

"Education plays a massive [role in] recovery for boys. We’ve seen it be more effective than with women and girls. I don’t know why that is, but that is what I’ve seen. I would say that probably boys have a better chance of shaking the stigma that comes along with the exploitation and the trafficking journey than women and girls in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan in particular, women and girls will find it very, very difficult to escape that stigma, whereas with boys, we have seen after some time [they] are welcomed back into their family and even in the broader community easier."