Frequently Asked Questions

The term ‘street children’ is hotly debated. Some say it is negative – that it labels and stigmatises children. Others say it gives them an identity and a sense of belonging. It can include a very wide range of children who: are homeless; work on the streets but sleep at home; either do or do not have family contact; work in open-air markets; live on the streets with their families; live in day or night shelters; spend a lot of time in institutions (e.g. prison). The term ‘street children’ is used because it is short and widely understood. However, we must acknowledge the problems and wherever possible we should ask the children what they think themselves. In reality, street children defy such convenient generalisations because each child is unique.

Nobody knows. Street children are not easy to count because: they move around a lot, within and between cities; they are often excluded from ‘statistic-friendly’ infrastructures (schools, households etc.); definitions of ‘street children’ are vague and differing. Numbers of 'street children' have often been deliberately exaggerated and misquoted in order to sensationalise and victimise these children. Street children have the right to be accurately represented. City-level surveys conducted by local organizations and supported by a clear definition are more reliable. In many countries, there is anecdotal evidence that numbers are increasing, due to uncontrolled urbanisation (linked to poverty), conflict and children being orphaned by AIDS. Most statistics are just estimates e.g. Kenya: 250,000; Ethiopia: 150,000; Zimbabwe: 12,000; Bangladesh: 445,226; Nepal: 30,000; India: 11 million (these are based on broad definitions of ‘street children’). Regardless of the statistics, even one child on the streets is too many if their rights are being violated.

“I have been a street girl since my father made a ‘woman’ of me. I carry on in the world but I am really dead” (17-year-old girl). In general there are fewer girls than boys actually living on the streets (studies indicate between 3% and 30% depending on the country). This is for several reasons. In many cultures, there is much greater pressure for girls to stay at home than boys. Research shows that girls will put up with abuse at home for longer than boys but that once girls make the decision to leave home, the rupture is more permanent than for boys. Girls are also less visible on the streets as they are often forced or lured into brothels. Even though there are fewer street-living girls than boys, they are extremely vulnerable to human rights abuses both on the street and when they are arrested. However, it is important to note that street boys are also at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation as well as girls.

Relatively few street children are actually orphans (although these numbers are increasing in some countries due to AIDS). The majority of street children are still in contact with their families and/or extended families. Many of them work on the streets in order to contribute to their family’s income. Those who run away often do so because of physical, psychological and/or sexual violence or abuse at home. Family breakdown is also common in the case of re-marriage and problems with step-parents. Importantly, many projects try to reunify street children with their families. However, this is a complex and frustrating task that requires much specialised counselling to address the root causes why the child ran away in the first place. Unfortunately, in many cases, reunification with the family fails, or is not in the best interests of the child. In these cases alternatives such as fostering, group homes and residential centres are needed. Street children are rarely alone, even if they have no family contact: “Here we do not have any kind of blood relation with each other. But when we are in the street with other friends, though we do not have any name for our relation, we are like a family. We are all actually members of our street family.” [Street Diary, Save the Children Fund -UK Nepal, 2001]

Ironically, street children are often at greatest risk of violence from those that are responsible to protect them – the police and other authorities. Police often beat, harass, sexually assault and even torture street children. They may beat children for their money or demand payment for protection, to avoid false charges, or for release from custody. They may seek out girls to demand sex. For many street children,assaults and thefts by the police are a routine part of their lives. Some are even killed by police. Very rarely are those responsible brought to justice.

Many images and stories portray street children either as helpless victims, dangerous criminals or heroic survivors. The reality is usually somewhere in between. They show incredible resiliency and initiative in the face of desperate circumstances. They have to be resourceful and strong in order to survive. But some do not survive. Others can only do so by breaking the law. We should respect their individual stories and characteristics. Each child is unique.

- Probably no environment contributes more to potential violations of the CRC than a childhood and youth spent outside the institutional framework of family and school in the usually hostile environment of the streets.
- The majority of articles in the CRC apply to street children because of their extreme poverty and particular vulnerability to the following: violence (Art. 19), disease (Art. 24), discrimination (Art. 2), sexual abuse and exploitation (Art. 34, 32), substance abuse (Art. 33), emotional deprivation (Art. 19, 31), exploitative and harmful child labour (Art. 32), denial of rights within the juvenile justice system (Art. 37, 40), arbitrary execution (Art. 6), torture (Art. 37), lack of access to education (Art. 28, 29) and healthcare (Art. 24) and lack of identity documents (Art. 7).

- The CRC sets out a framework for protection that emphasizes the family and community as having the main responsibility for caring for children (Art. 5, 18). The role of the state is to support and enable families and communities to fulfill this role. However, it is an unfortunate fact that in many cases families and communities are not protective and nurturing. In these cases, as for children living on the streets, the state then takes on a greater responsibility to fill the gap (Art. 20: ‘A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment…shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State’).

- In reality, it is often civil society organizations rather than governments that take on the burden of caring for these children. Increased cooperation and collaboration is required amongst CSOs in order to exchange lessons learned and good practices. It is also needed between CSOs and the state to ensure the sustainability of programmes and to address underlying socio-economic and discriminatory policies that perpetuate the street children phenomenon.