VULNERABLE / STREET

CHILDREN

PRESENTED BY ;
Ajinkya Pravin Salunkhe
Roll No: 03
Div: A
 OUTLINES
Introduction

Definition Categories

of children

Causes. Whose
responsibility?

Effects/

consequences Victim or

victimizers
How do street children
survive?

Solutions.

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 INTRODUCTION
• A child is vulnerable if, because of the circumstances of birth or immediate environment, is prone to
abuse or deprivation of basic needs, care and protection and thus disadvantaged relative to his or her
peers (FMWA&SD 2008).

• A vulnerable child includes: children in need of alternative family care; children who are abused or
neglected; children in hard-to-reach areas; children with disability related vulnerability; children affected
by armed conflict; and children in need of legal protection (FMWA&SD 2007).

• A vulnerable child is one (that): with inadequate access to education, health and other social support, has
a chronically ill parent, lives in a household with terminally or chronically ill parent(s) or caregiver(s),
lives outside of family care (lives with extended family, in institution, or on street), is infected with HIV
(FMWA&SD 2006)

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GROUPS OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN
STREET CHILDREN
Children with physical and mental disabilities
- Sexually abused children
- Neglected children
- Children in conflict with the law
- Exploited “Almajiri”
- Child beggars, destitute children and scavengers
- Children from broken homes
- Child sex workers
- Children whose parents have disability
- Children who marry before the age of 18
- Children who have dropped out of school
- Abandoned children
- Children living with terminally or chronically ill parent(s) and
caregiver(s)
- Child laborers
- Children in child-headed homes
- Internally displaced children
- ORPHAN
- Trafficked children
- Children of migrant workers such as fishermen, nomads
- Children living with HIV
- Children living with aged/frail grandparents

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• Street children are the casualties of economic growth, war, poverty, loss of traditional values, domestic
violence, physical and mental abuse.

• Every street child has a reason for being on the streets. While some children are lured by the promise of
excitement and freedom.

• The majority are pushed onto the street by desperation and a realization that they have nowhere else to
go.

• What is obvious is that street children are poverty-stricken and their needs and problems are a result of
wanting to meet basic needs for survival.

• Street children go through the struggle of providing themselves with basic things such as food, shelter,
health and clothing.

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 DEFINITION
• “Any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the broadest sense of the
word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become her or his habitual abode
and/or sources of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by
responsible adults” UNICEF

• The term street children refers to children for whom the street more than their family has become
their real home. It includes children who might not necessarily be homeless or without families,
but who live in situations where there is no protection, supervision, or direction from responsible

adults. - Human Rights Watch.

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THE EPIDEMIC OF STREET CHILDREN IS A GLOBAL ISSUE

 Street children are typically between the ages of 6 and 17 years old and live without adult
support

 Africa, Asia and Latin America have the highest number of street
children

 Almost all countries have children who are homeless and living in the
streets

 10.7% of the 69 million children are vulnerable (UNICEF,

2007)

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 Global urbanization is attributed to growing numbers of homeless
children

 Many children leave their homes in smaller towns to work in larger cities

Estimations on how many children are living on the street is between 10 million and 100
million
globally

Street children move frequently and are often reluctant of adults, so information on the children
is
limited.
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UNICEF divides street children into two main
categories:
 .Children on the street are those engaged in some kind of economic activity ranging from
begging to vending. Because of the economic fragility of the family, these children may eventually
opt for a permanent life on the streets.

 Children of the street actually live on the street (or outside of a normal family environment).
Family ties may exist but are tenuous and are maintained only casually or occasionally.

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 TYPES

1 2 3
• Street- • Street- • Street-
Living Working Family

 A ‘child of the streets’, have no home but the streets. The family may have abandoned him or her
or may have no family members left alive. Such a child has to struggle for survival and might
move from friend to friend, or live in shelters such as abandoned buildings.

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 A child ‘on the street’, visits his or her family regularly. The child might even return every night
to sleep at home, but spends most days and some nights on the street because of poverty,
overcrowding, sexual or physical abuse at home.

 A part of a street family. Some children live on the sidewalks or city squares with the rest of their
families. Families displaced due to poverty, natural disasters, or wars may be forced to live on the
streets. They move their possessions from place to place when necessary. Often the children in
these ‘street families’ work on the streets with other members of their families.

 In institutionalized care, having come from a situation of homelessness and at risk of returning
to
a homeless existence.
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 THE TYPICAL AGE AND GENDER OF A STREET
CHILD.
 The typical age of a street child varies from place to place. In developing countries children as
young as eight live completely on their own. In developed countries, street children are usually
over the age of twelve.

 The proportion of girls among street children is reported to be less than 30% in developing
countries and about 50% in many developed countries.

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WHY DO CHILDREN TAKE TO THE
STREET?
To earn money for themselves
and support their families.

To find shelter

To escape from family

problems including
rejection

To escape from work demands

in the home

To escape from a children’s

institution.

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THE PROBLEMS OF STREET CHILDREN

SOCIAL
PROBLEMS

PHYSICAL
PROBLEMS

PSYCHOLOGICAL/
MENTAL
PROBLEMS

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SOCIAL
PROBLEMS

Discrimination and
Poverty and lack of accessible
Illiteracy. resources.

Violent
Stigmatization.
Environment

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 PHYSICAL
PROBLEMS

SEXUAL AND
LACK OF REPRODUCTIVE
ADEQUATE COMMON DISEASES INJURIES
NUTRITION HEALTH
PROBLEMS.

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 PSYCHOLOGICAL/MENTAL PROBLEMS

A A
Mental Substance
Stressful Transitory
Health. use
Past. Lifestyle.

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HOW DO YOU SEE THEM?

VICTIMS
CRIMINALS

VICTIMIZERS

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 HOW DO STREET CHILDREN SURVIVE?

 PERSONAL STRENGTHS: The child's resourcefulness (the ability to solve problems quickly
and efficiently with available resources), and resilience (the ability to recover from shock,
depression, and other difficult circumstances) determine his/ her survival.

 THE PEER GROUP: The group often determines the process of change, socialization and
development among street children by providing emotional and material support. Street children
often help in one another's survival

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 CHANCE FACTORS: An important thing that determines the mode of survival is the people
whom the child meets on the first day away from home, whether it is a group of car washers or
drug traffickers. Being new to the situation he or she does not know that there are other ways of
surviving on the street.

 EXPLOITERS: Street children may have to do many unhealthy or dangerous things to survive.
Other street children, the police, and the adults who run the sex and drug trades may easily
victimize them.

 OTHER SUPPORT MECHANISMS AMONG STREET CHILDREN: These mechanisms

could be related to trade or activities in the streets and tend to be hierarchical. For example, there
may be a leader and a spokesperson.

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 SOLUTION

Child Food and Education & Economic

Protection Nutrition Training Strengthening

Psychosocial
Shelter Health
Support

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