Prostitution in Afghanistan is illegal, with punishments ranging from 5 to 15 years imprisonment. So much so that 'going to Mazar' has become a byword for Afghan men looking to pay for sex. A large number of women from mainly China , Iran , Pakistan , Philippines , Tajikistan , and Uganda and other countries are imported for prostitution into Afghanistan.
Under the former Taliban regime, prostitution existed clandestinely in Kabul, despite being outlawed due to the government following a very strict interpretation of the Islamic Sharia law. Melissa Ditmore reports in Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work that during their rule the traffic in women for prostitution thrived. The practice of prostitution in Afghanistan is illegal, with punishments ranging from 5 to 15 years imprisonment and 80 lashes if unmarried.
Prostitution was even more strictly prohibited under the rule of the Taliban , with those thought of having extramarital sex risking extrajudicial killing by cultural fundamentalists and Islamists. Prostitution in the country is mostly driven by poverty and displacement. Embassy in Kabul , females from Iran, Tajikistan, China, and possibly Uganda and other places are forced into prostitution in Afghanistan. Women from Tajikistan are believed to be trafficked through Afghanistan to other countries for prostitution.
Trafficked Iranian women transit Afghanistan en route to Pakistan. The number of prostitutes in Afghanistan is small. A University of Manitoba report suggests that there may be about female prostitutes in Kabul, [4] which is a city with a population of over 3 million.
According to Afghan traditions, the shame of prostitution is so intense that sometimes those involved in such activities are assassinated by the many religious extremists found throughout the country [15] or in some cases by family members. But society has black glasses and ignores these problems. Tradition is honor, and if we talk about these taboos, then we break tradition. Brothels , sometimes run by foreigners, sometimes with links to larger criminal networks, manage to exist in several cities of the country by paying bribes to police officers who come to raid them.
