THERE IS AN ESTIMATED 314.

700 STREET CHILDREN

IN KOLKATA

WHAT IS A STREET CHILD?

The Indian Embassy estimates 314.700 street children in Kolkata, India. What most
street children have in common is that they spend most of their time on the streets or
at a railway station. About 50% of all street children stay in these areas to earn
money for food by polishing shoes, collecting bottles or begging. For these children,
every day is a battle against poverty and hunger. They work between 10 -13 hours a
day and are exposed to high health risks due to unhygienic working- and living
conditions. The right to be a child and have a normal childhood is basically non -
exciting because they don’t have any access to leisure-time activities.

Some of the children have families but a great number of them do not have any
adults to take care of them. Often, these children run away from home due to
violence or sexual abuse. Some of them have lost their parents in war whereas other
children got lost at markets or at the station.

WHY DO STREET CHILDREN ABUSE GLUE AND HOW DOES

IT AFFECT THEM?
Abusing drugs and other cheap things, such as glue, is a common thing among street
children all over the world. Just as it is uncertain how many street children there are
in the world, it is impossible to put an exact figure on how many of them abuse glue.

However, some have estimated that approximately 70 percent of street children sniff
glue to fight the hunger and to survive their hopeless situations. It also gives them
the courage to steal and do sexual favours in order to survive. The glue damages the
children’s livers, lungs and brains.

The drug addiction affects their personality and many of the children become more
aggressive.

The most typical damages that can occur from the abuse is:
 Short-term memory loss.
 Loss of hearing.
 Convulsions in arms and legs.
 Brain damages.
 Bone marrow damages.

WHY DO CHILDREN BECOME STREET CHILDREN?

There are many reasons why children end up on the streets but to list a few they
include:

 Armed conflict and war where children lose their parents.

 Poverty, which forces the family to send their children on the streets to work and
live.

 Natural disasters where children become separated from their family.

 Violence or sexual abuse at home, which causes the child to run away.

 Deadly diseases that leave the children orphaned.

HOW ARE STREET CHILDREN BEING TREATED?

Most street children are fighting to survive. They work, beg and in some cases they
steal to get food. As a result, street children are often unpopular. As an example, the
shopkeepers drive them away from the street if they disturb the costumers.

Street children are often victims of nicknames, which indicate that the population
dislikes them. In Rwanda they are called ”saligoman”, which means ”brats”. In Rio de
Janeiro they are called ”pivots”, which means ”small criminals”. Lastly, in Hounduras
they are called ”resistoleros”, which means ”glue sniffers”.
Children who live on the streets have no one to take care of them and that makes
them an easy target for kidnappings, violence or sexual abuse.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was created to secure children with
fundamental rights while they grow up. The UN passed the Rights of the Child at a
general meeting on the 20th of November 1989. More than 190 countries have
signed the convention and thereby agreed to follow it.

WHAT ABOUT STREET CHILDREN’S RIGHTS?

Children who live on the streets are rarely aware of their rights. They do not have
anyone to take care of them and to give them love and support – nor is there anyone
to make sure that they go to the doctor, school or receives regular meals. As a result,
the children end up in crime and problems with the police or other children and adults
who live on the streets. If the children end up in jail, they often get treated like adults,
which is in breach with the Rights of the Child.