H . Necessity for Pre-Deployment Training on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence ( Lesson # 2590 )
Observation .
A decorated Green Beret was almost forcibly retired from the military due to physically confronting an American-backed Afghan police commander who raped a boy in Afghanistan in 2011 . The New York Times reported that Soldiers had been instructed to look the other way to such incidents of child abuse , considering them ‘ cultural practices .’ Lack of clarity / guidance in not only reporting such violations but also taking action against them set the scene for Soldiers to be punished when they tried to actually do something about a human rights violation . This underlines the importance of clear policy to protect child abuse victims and clear guidance and training for Soldiers on responses to and 2 nd / 3 rd order effects of sexual violence downrange .
Discussion .
In 2010 and 2011 , American Special Forces teams began forming local Afghan police militias to hold villages that had been retaken from the Taliban . However , in some of these areas , the pushback of the Taliban opened a vacuum for other unintended consequences . In some of these rural areas , a ‘ cultural ’ practice that had been outlawed by the Taliban was re-emerging . Known as bacha bazi , or boy play , powerful Afghan men used teenage boys as sex slaves for dancing and entertainment . Most of these boys were from poor families without means ; they became a status symbol for these men . In some cases , the same police officers who had been funded by Americans to defeat the Taliban and protect the villages were participating in this exploitive practice , even though sexual violence is one of the six grave violations against children recognized by the United Nations .
Soldiers would come in contact with this exploitive practice and other forms of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse ( SEA ) and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence ( CRSV ) during deployments . However , guidance was not always clear for Soldiers as to how to respond to these human rights violations . According to an article in the New York Times , based on interviews and court records , American Soldiers and Marines were instructed not to intervene in the practice of bacha bazi , even when these boys were being abused by Afghan allies on military bases . The NY Times asserts that “ The American policy of nonintervention is intended to maintain good relations with the Afghan police and militia units the United States has trained to fight the Taliban . It also reflects a reluctance to impose cultural values in a country where pederasty is rife , particularly among powerful men , for whom being surrounded by young teenagers can be a mark of social status .” ( This claim was later denied by General Campbell , according to an October 2015 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction ( SIGAR ) Report , who maintained that a policy since 2011 instructs U . S . service members to report human-rights violations to the chain-of-command , who will report to Afghan authorities ; in September 2015 , he issued a statement for suspicions of sexual abuse to immediately be reported to the chain-ofcommand .)
In summer 2011 , two Green Berets were deployed in their second tour in northern Kunduz Province where some of these Afghan Local Police ( ALP ) units were stationed – Special Forces Captain Daniel Quinn ( the detachment commander ), and Sergeant 1 st Class ( SFC ) Charles Martland , who was highly regarded by his peers and had received a Bronze Star for actions taken during a Taliban ambush . These Soldiers began to hear serious complaints against the police . Upon hearing about the rape of a 14 / 15-
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