This article presents a study of street children's involvement in organized crime in Bangladesh. It is based on an empirical case study conducted in Dhaka and draws on interviews with 22 street children, 80 interviews with criminal justice practitioners, NGO workers and community members and over three years of participant observation of the Bangladeshi criminal justice system and wider society. The article explains how street children work for 'mastaans', Bangladeshi organized crime bosses. These children are hired to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. This article argues that these children are neither victims nor offenders; they are instead 'illicit labourers', doing what they can to survive on the streets.
Children's agency has dominated discourse about young people in recent years, yet little is known about street children's agency in regard to involvement in organised crime, particularly in Bangladesh. Drawing on interviews with 22 street children, 80 interviews with criminal justice practitioners and 3 years of participant observation of the Bangladeshi criminal justice system, this article proposes that the concept of 'protective agency' is important for understanding how, and why, street children engage with Bangladeshi organised crime group: the mastaans.
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