1. General Information
The problem of street children is found in almost all parts of the world. Street children are homeless, spend day and night on the street, have no one to care for them, are homeless, often do odd jobs to survive, become beggars, or are victims of sexual abuse and other social transgressions.
They live in abandoned buildings, parks, garages, workshops, and outdoors. They are deprived of the care and protection of the family. They cannot assimilate into society and become a liability instead of an asset. Lacking education, they become a workforce with no future. They are mostly teenagers, but some are as young as seven to twelve years old.
2. Reasons
There can be many causes behind this problem. These include;
- creeping poverty,
- domestic violence,
- family disintegration,
- orphans,
- armed conflict,
- Displacement,
- Famine,
- Natural disasters,
- physical and sexual abuse,
- exploitation by adults,
- urbanization and overcrowding,
- acculturation,
- Diseases and others.
Due to these causes, children become objects of neglect, abuse, exploitation and sometimes even murder. They move to the big cities to find work for their survival. They feel scared and powerless. They can’t even save themselves from the cruelties of the weather and they don’t have access to medicine when they get sick. Lacking the qualifications, education or skills to fit into society, they become disengaged and end up on the streets.
3. Categories
Street children can be found mainly in two categories. One who becomes the thug type or those who learn to survive through means considered illegal in civilized society. They end up engaging in criminal or unethical activities. Their activities can range from pickpocketing to vandalism, from theft to dishonesty, from rape to murder, from drug dealing to child trafficking. They become protégés of gangsters, face police torture, and sometimes become violent towards strangers.
It all starts with the basic survival instinct. A street kid will do anything to survive. At first, he would be afraid of doing something illegal, but he would do it when he was hard-pressed to do it. As illiterate and without vocational training, they face difficulties in finding suitable jobs. Also the public has overwhelmingly negative opinions about them. The public views them with suspicion and fear, while many would like them to disappear. Street children are victims of illegal activities, sometimes in reaction to the aforementioned discretionary attitude towards them and sometimes to support themselves.
Many of these types of street children become juvenile delinquents and find a place in overcrowded prisons. There they have every chance of becoming hardened criminals. They even subject their fellow street children to do their bidding. Some become members of street gangs, drug mafias and child trafficking networks. They form their own pressure groups. These are exploited and manipulated by the most powerful people such as private business owners, civilians, law enforcement personnel and security agencies.
The second category of street children includes those who have become victims of their peers and other man-made problems. They lack the tactics, the willpower, or the physical stamina to keep up with the demands of their hard lives. These are the most vulnerable to social ills such as physical and sexual abuse, torture, exploitation, child trafficking, begging and drugs, among others. Underage girls and boys may be subjected to prostitution or other sexual activities by force, coercion or fraud.
4. Child trafficking, an example
Child trafficking is a particular example of the horrors these children face. Victims of child trafficking mostly belong to the second category of street children. They are recruited, transported, sheltered and received for different purposes of exploitation. Trafficking can include widespread purposes such as forced labour, servitude, slavery and organ harvesting, or it can include illicit activities such as prostitution, sexual exploitation, early marriage, child soldiers and begging. The United Nations and other NGOs continually work to counter this practice. Many governments have also enacted laws to prevent this practice.
In developing countries they are a source of cheap labor. Housemaids, shop porters, hotel servants, messengers, delivery men, nannies, and even servants can be seen as a group of cheap labor.
A particular case of this type is that of children from South Asia who are trafficked to the Middle East as camel jockeys. These children are kept in unsanitary and congested places with limited or no access to the basic comforts of life. They are then blindfolded and forced to ride a camel in races. His food and other wages are tied to his performance in the races. If a child does not perform well, he can be tortured or left without food for days.
5. Main problems faced by street children
The main problems faced by these children are;
- Hunger,
- Diseases,
- Loneliness,
- Delinquency,
- Dirt,
- Prostitution,
- Violence,
- slavery,
- deals with children and
- Abuse
These are the problems that street children mainly face, but in order to eliminate these problems effectively, we need to solve some more important problems first. These include;
- Illiteracy,
- Professional training,
- Help in creating your future,
- sense of alienation and
- absence of love
6. Some works done
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides the basic framework to protect street children. Although most governments have ratified the treaty, they have failed to protect these children. Governments find no economic influence on their welfare. In addition, these children do not have the right to vote or participate in the government. So governments pay little attention to them. Most of the time, when governments tend to find a solution, they place these children in orphanages, youth homes, or correctional facilities. Governments sometimes work in collaboration with NGOs in many programs aimed at the welfare of these children.
7. Suggestions
The problem of street children can be handled properly if we could develop a multi-pronged strategy that works for the welfare and tranquility of both society and the child.
This may involve;
- Defense of the cause of street children,
- Community support and education,
- residential rehabilitation programs,
- Full care residential homes, and
- Other programs of this type.
Some NGOs have successfully applied the following strategies;
- Special targeted feeding programs that provide these children with food supplements,
- Provide free medical services to these children,
- Legal assistance to claim their rights and fend for themselves,
- Education in an environment that helps them learn instead of forcing them to avoid schools,
- Family reunification when possible,
- Night shelters and shelters for them,
- Psychological and moral support that provides a better integration in the general population,
- Change street children’s attitude towards their circumstances, making them more self-aware and self-confident.