Human Trafficking in [Colombia] [other countries]Street Children in [Colombia Child Prostitution in [Colombia] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first ten years of the 21st
Century - 2000 to 2009
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** True
cost of Scotland's cocaine: Street children are the victims Colombia's street children are
exposed to a distressing daily diet of drugs, prostitution and violence. Kids as young as six sleep on the streets
of Medellin and huddle together in a desperate bid
to stay warm. Largely ignored by
locals and known as "disposables", their harrowing stories will
chill the blood of every parent. They
are victims - of the killings, poverty and corruption that surrounds the
cocaine business. With so many
orphaned by violence, they end up sleeping rough and, with a sad
inevitability, soon end up taking drugs and falling into prostitution. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF - The Big Picture U.S. Dept
of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban areas, children are found working as domestic servants,
and also in the retail and services sectors, and in activities such as street
vending and waiting tables. Children
are involved in commercial sexual exploitation either on the streets or in
private establishments such as bars, brothels, or massage parlors, and tend
to range in age from 13 to 17 years. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - Public schooling is provided up
to age 18, and is universal, compulsory, and free up to age 15. The National
Department of Statistics (DANE) estimated that more
than 8 million children between ages 6 and 15 attended school. The government
covered the basic costs of primary education, although many families
struggled with additional expenses such as matriculation fees after age 15,
books, school supplies, and transportation costs that often were prohibitive,
particularly for the rural poor. SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
The legal minimum age for work was inconsistent with completing a basic
education, and only 38 percent of working children attended school. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2000 [34] In the light of article 6 and
other related provisions of the Convention, the Committee is deeply concerned
at the threat posed by the armed conflict to children's lives, including
instances of extrajudicial killing, disappearance and torture committed by
the police and paramilitary groups; at the multiple instances of "social
cleansing" of street children; and at the persistent impunity of the
perpetrators of such crimes. [38] In the light of its
recommendation concerning the need to conduct special investigations in cases
of gross violations of human rights involving children, the Committee regrets
the lack of follow-up information on this issue and reiterates its concern
about alleged cases of street children tortured and ill-treated by members of
the police and/or paramilitary groups. [41] The Committee further
reiterates its concern that children deprived of their family environment may
increasingly travel to the main cities, where they may live on the streets
and be particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. [63] The Committee expresses most
particular concern for children who work or live in the street in order to
survive and who require special attention because of the risks to which they
are exposed. Hope
for Colombia's lost children english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/12/200812213421095100.html
Stephania, 12, lives here with her mother,
a prostitute. Their home is a former brothel, their bedroom is one quarter of
an old bathroom, their bed takes the place of the ripped out bathtub. LITTLE HELP - There are few people willing to
help Stephania and the other children living on and
around the streets of Colombia - they are a social group typically stigmatised, marginalised and
at times persecuted. Maryibe Jalero
Cardona, a social worker at the centre, says that there are three main
dangers for Stephania. "The constant contact with
prostitutes and their world means that daughters can think that it is normal
and follow it," she says.
"The room Stephania and her mother live
in is rented by the night, so they could easily be chucked out if they don't
pay. Stephania may think that she could work as a
prostitute if they just need the money for one night's rent." The second danger is that drug use is
widespread in the area - whether cocaine, marijuana or ecstasy. The third is abuse by any of the
significant number of men trawling the streets for prostitutes day and night. INEQUALITY - It is estimated that about
60,000 children live on Colombia's streets - 37 per cent of them in Bogota.
Furthermore, those displaced are targeted by illegal armed groups
operating in cities. About 600
youngsters have been murdered in the slum areas of Ciudad Boliviar
and Altos de Cazuca, on the fringes of Botoga, over the past five years. About one-quarter of street children are
assisted by public institutions or groups commissioned by the state. But those without assistance typically
steal, scavenge or deliver drugs for dealers to survive. Credit crunch has forced me to snub 200 kids who need aid,
admits Colombian charity priest www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/real-life-stories/2008/07/14/exclusive-credit-crunch-has-forced-me-to-snub-200-kids-who-need-aid-admits-colombian-charity-priest-86908-20642897/ At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Fr Walters added:
"Paradoxically, the fact the violence has diminished means that more
kids than ever are coming on to the streets because they are no longer
deterred by the fear of being killed.
"The sort of social problems and pressures that were forcing them
on to the streets in the first place have not diminished." Latin
American countries call for end to child labor In Colombia, the coordinator to
eradicate child labor, Liliana Obregon,
said 1 million children work in the country and that 1.4 million do not have
access to education. Obregon listed Monteria, Ibague, Bucaramanga and Cali as cities with a high rate of child labor, citing
the National Department of Statistics.
President of the United Center of Workers of Colombia Carlos Rodriguez
said "this is proof of the poverty we have in the country, of their
parents' precarious salaries that provoke many children to be obliged to work
in the street and even sexually exploited." True
cost of Scotland's cocaine: Street children are the victims Colombia's street children are
exposed to a distressing daily diet of drugs, prostitution and violence. Kids as young as six sleep on the streets
of Medellin and huddle together in a desperate bid
to stay warm. Largely ignored by locals
and known as "disposables", their harrowing stories will chill the
blood of every parent. They are
victims - of the killings, poverty and corruption that surrounds the cocaine
business. With so many orphaned by
violence, they end up sleeping rough and, with a sad inevitability, soon end
up taking drugs and falling into prostitution. Making
“Disposables” ‘Angels of the House’ They come cautiously and
unbelieving, many in the most desperate of straits. The facial expressions of
the children when they spot the food keep the volunteers wanting to be there
to look after the cooking and clean-up, no matter how pressing their outside
commitments. Diana Sanchez could not
work in more desolate circumstances, but is mostly too busy to even
notice. Bogota’s
hungry children number in the tens of thousands. The stories of the children’s backgrounds
are always sad. No one wants them, for some not even their own families. At worst, they are `Los desachables’:
the disposables; at best, the “gamines”, in Espanola pronounced (gah MEE nays).
Sent out onto the streets to fend for themselves, they forage in the
garbage along with the city’s stray dogs. To be a poor child in Colombia is
as complex as the circumstances that made them. It is to be a runway, a
disposable, a child prostitute, or a child abandoned by a family coming into
the city from a war zone. In some
circumstances, a mother knowing her brood goes hungry sends one child out to
the streets in the hopes that even a few pesos will make the difference at
that night’s supper table. In other even crueler instances, a child is
thrown out onto the street because there will be one less mouth to feed. SOS Children: Street
Children in Colombia In "Social
Cleansing" Of Children Frankie has been on the street
since he was eight years old. He has
survived three "social cleansing" attempts on his life. Let the Children Live – The Gamines www.letthechildrenlive.org/fmainframe.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [see left margin: the gamines] They are called 'the disposable
ones', the children who live - and sometimes die - in the streets and the
rubbish dumps of the cities of Human Rights
Watch Colombia Report Street children and other youths
in Colombia Reality
Check: Politics In Youth Ambassadors for Peace - www.youthambassadors.com/childrenandwar/colombia.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] Children are the victims of
"disappearances" and massacres and are currently dying at a rate of
12 each day as a direct result of violence. Children are forced to live as
refugees abroad or are displaced within their own country, and many take to
the streets as a means of survival. These children then confront the dangers
of hunger, harassment, sexual abuse and forced prostitution, death or even
murder. With the current atmosphere of violence and poverty, the majority of
children in Colombia go without an education. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin,
"Street Children - |
Human Trafficking in [Colombia] [other countries]Street Children in [Colombia Child Prostitution in [Colombia] [other countries]