Bacha bāzī (, lit. "boy play"; from bacheh, "boy", and bazi "play, game") is a slang term used in Afghanistan for a custom in Afghanistan involving child sexual abuse by older men of young adolescent males or boys, called dancing boys, often involving sexual slavery and child prostitution. Though outlawed, bacha bazi is still practiced in certain regions of Afghanistan. Force and coercion are common, and security officials state they are unable to end such practices and that many of the men involved in bacha bazi are powerful and well-armed warlords. During the Afghan Civil War (1996–2001), bacha bazi carried the death penalty under Taliban law. Under the post-Taliban government, the practice of dancing boys was illegal under Afghan law, but the laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders, and police had reportedly been complicit in related crimes. Despite international concern and its illegality, the practice continued under the post-Taliban government. A controversy arose after allegations surfaced that U.S. government forces in Afghanistan after the invasion of the country deliberately ignored bacha bazi. The U.S. military responded by claiming the abuse was largely the responsibility of the "local Afghan government". History Bacha bazi is a centuries-old practice. One of the original factors mobilizing the rise of the Taliban was their opposition to the practice. After the Taliban came to power in 1996, bacha bazi was banned along with homosexuality. The Taliban considered it incompatible with Sharia law. Both bacha bazi and homosexuality carried the death penalty, with the boys sometimes being charged rather than the perpetrators. Often, boys are selected because they are poor and vulnerable. Men who have been bacha boys face social stigma and struggle with the psychological effects of their abuse. In 2011, in an agreement between the United Nations and Afghanistan, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Afghan officials signed an action plan promising to end the practice, along with enforcing other protections for children. In 2014, Suraya Subhrang, child rights commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, stated that the areas practicing bacha bazi had increased. Modern examples Clover Films and Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi made a documentary film titled The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan about the practice, which was shown in the UK in March 2010 and aired in the US the following month. Journalist Nicholas Graham of The Huffington Post lauded the documentary as "both fascinating and horrifying". The film won the 2011 Documentary award