Human Trafficking in [Jamaica] [other countries]Street Children in [Jamaica Child Prostitution in [Jamaica] [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
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FEATURED ARTICLE *** Action needed on street children - Boys being used as criminal pawns Speaking against the background of recent criminal activities where police have identified street children as the perpetrators of major crimes, Pious cites the cause as lack of attention being given these youths. Officer in charge of crime at the Half-Way Tree Police Station, Detective Sergeant Radcliffe Levy, says: "It's a big business being conducted by this gang, where they loot cameras, cellphones, and other items, and sell them at cheap prices to others that sell them again." REHABILITATION - "Rehabilitation is equipping these kids with a career skill such as barbering, photography and cosmetology, so instead of becoming monsters, they have the self-reliance and confidence to uplift themselves. In our preventative measures, we go into the homes and communities where these streets kids are coming from and try to empower the parents of kids with skills so they don't push their children to street hustling," Pious added. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF - The
Big Picture U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - More than 2,800 children live on the streets, and are engaged in
work such as newspaper delivery, vending, and domestic service. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - Public primary education was
free, universal, and compulsory for students between the ages of 6 and 11,
and the Ministry of Education reported that 99 percent of children in that
age group were enrolled in school. However, economic circumstances obliged
thousands of children to stay home to help with housework and avoid school
fees. As a result, attendance rates at primary schools averaged 78 percent,
although some rural areas reported attendance as low as 50 percent. More than
70 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 16 had access to secondary
school. SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
The Child Care and Protection Act provides that children under the age of 12
shall not be employed except by parents or guardians, and that such
employment may be only in domestic, agricultural, or horticultural work. It
also prohibits children under the age of 15 from industrial employment. The
police are mandated with conducting child labor inspections, and the CDA is
charged with finding places of safety for children. However, according to CDA
officials, resources to investigate exploitative child labor were
insufficient. Children under the age of 12 peddled goods and services or
begged on city streets. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003 [52] While noting that the State
party is aware that the number of street children is increasing, the
Committee remains concerned at the situation of street children and at the
lack of specific mechanisms and measures to address this situation, as well
as the lack of relevant data in this regard. [54] The Committee is concerned at
the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, including street
children, and the lack of accurate data and adequate laws and policies in
this regard. www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090429/letters/letters4.html
The Editor, Sir: It has been brought to my attention that the
number of children vending on the streets has reached an alarming level. It
is as if the number is doubling. What is even more troubling is the fact that
these children can be seen during school hours 'higglering'.
Illiteracy
- fuel for crime in Clarendon www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081102/news/news4.html
STREET CHILDREN - Illiteracy is probably most
common among Clarendon's 175 street and working children who have poor
attendance records at school. Most are between the ages of 11 and 17 years
old. The street children study of 2002 reported that most of them worked in
the vicinity of the May Pen Market and along the coast in Race Course and
Rocky Point. Marlon (not his real name) was one
of those boys. The Sunday Gleaner met him last year on a trip to the Rocky
Point fishing district, an area notorious for its robust gun- and-drugs
trade. At 13 years old, Marlon could not
read or write, although he was attending an all-age school. He was only
attending school for three days of the week - Monday to Wednesday. Thursday
and Friday were spent on the fishing beach selling juices to hot, thirsty
fisher folk. "Mi parents dem no response fi mi," he
told us then. His words were few, but very profound. He was one of 14
children for his mother. The man he said is his father has never claimed
paternity. With neither of his parents taking responsibility for him, he
lives with his grandmother. Action
needed on street children - Boys being used as criminal pawns Speaking against the background of
recent criminal activities where police have identified street children as the perpetrators of major crimes, Pious cites the
cause as lack of attention being given these youths. Officer in charge of crime at the
Half-Way Tree Police Station, Detective Sergeant Radcliffe
Levy, says: "It's a big business being conducted by this gang, where
they loot cameras, cellphones, and other items, and
sell them at cheap prices to others that sell them again." REHABILITATION - "Rehabilitation is
equipping these kids with a career skill such as barbering, photography and
cosmetology, so instead of becoming monsters, they have the self-reliance and
confidence to uplift themselves. In our preventative measures, we go into the
homes and communities where these streets kids are coming from and try to
empower the parents of kids with skills so they don't push their children to
street hustling," Pious added. No night out for street kids www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070404T230000-0500_121358_OBS_NO_NIGHT_OUT_FOR_STREET_KIDS.asp At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Government, grappling with the
growing problem of children roaming the streets, especially at nights, plans
to use retired policemen to keep them off and warned parents that they would
face prosecution. The Child Development Agency
(CDA), said the minister, would be seeking to find a location to house the
children where they would be cared for until their parents are located.
"We haven't really worked out the logistic, but we are going to also
find the parents and prosecute the parents," the minister added. Street kids dilemma www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20060812T210000-0500_111037_OBS_STREET_KIDS_DILEMMA_.asp At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
The practice of putting
street-wise kids in foster care or children's homes is futile and will end in
rebellion, a clinical psychologist is warning Golding urges action to rescue street
children from violence, sexual abuse www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20060423T190000-0500_103216_OBS_GOLDING_URGES_ACTION_TO_RESCUE_STREET_CHILDREN_FROM_VIOLENCE__SEXUAL_ABUSE.asp At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
"At the rate that the
Possibility Programme is going, children are going
to be coming on the streets faster than you are able to accommodate them in
this programme. We really need to first of all get
hold of them and just rescue them," Golding
insisted "The kind of things they are
exposed to on the streets, the violence and the sexual abuse, we just need to
get hold of them and put them under some sort of care and guidance."
And, Davies insisted: "As well as to get to the root causes." Child Prostitution Widespread in Jamaica Children, Some As Young As 10 And
11 Years Old, Are Engaged In Prostitution. Study listed nine categories of children engaging in sex for gain and said they were pushed basically by lack of economic support, love and affection. The first of the nine categories listed was children living and working on the streets, mostly boys between ages 12 and 18 Violence Against
Children in Jamaica, W.I. A Cross Cultural Qualitative Study Within the last decade 22,000
youth were labeled "street children" who lived and worked in the
streets doing jobs such as machinery, welding, domestic work, care giving and newspaper delivery. Many turn to or are
forced into child prostitution and/or the drug trade in order to survive. "Nobody's
Children" Jamaican Children in Police Detention and Government
Institutions SUMMARY - In the island nation of Jamaica,
many children-often as young as twelve or thirteen-are detained for long
periods, sometimes six months or more, in filthy and overcrowded police
lockups, in spite of international standards and Jamaican laws that forbid
such treatment. The children are often held in the same cells as adults
accused of serious crimes, vulnerable to victimization by their cellmates and
to ill-treatment by abusive police; and virtually always, they are held in
poor conditions, deprived of proper sanitary facilities, adequate ventilation,
adequate food, exercise, education, and basic medical care. Some of these
children have not been detained on suspicion of criminal activity but have
been locked up only because they are deemed "in need of care and
protection." Launch of Possibility Program www.pnpjamaica.com/speech03.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
The Possibility Program is a
national program aimed at improving the lot of street children and youths
across the nation, by providing them with the resources, support and tools
for maximizing their human potential. It should enhance connectedness with
family, community and the larger society.
The ultimate goal of the Program is to eliminate the need for children
and youths to be on the streets, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty. St
Andrew Rotary Club to build hostel for street boys THE ROTARY Club of St. Andrew this
week announced plans to construct a US$250,000 hostel to accommodate street
boys in the Corporate Area as the main component of its centennial
project. The hostel will provide
temporary shelter for boys aged 10 to 18 years old who are registered under
the Possibility Program. National Consultation on Juvenile Justice www.pnpjamaica.com/speech07.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Although it is still a minority of
young people that fall into these categories, it is nevertheless a
significant minority which could increase, if we do not put proper measures
in place, to rescue them and ensure that they are given every opportunity to
fulfill their God-given talents. Just recently, I launched the
Possibility Programme, a comprehensive plan to
address the problem of street children. Under this programme
we intend to rescue these children and re-socialise
them to become better-adjusted and productive members of the society. Ultimately, the problem of street
children can only be solved when there is greater societal concern and
awareness, and when parents are more responsible in their care of children. My
Casual Observations and Questions [DOC] (3)SCHOOL AND STREET CHILDREN - Literacy is high in
Jamaica. Education is well
established, a good legacy of the British rule. Almost all children go to elementary
school. The Jamaica Gleaner, however,
points out Jamaica's Women Drug
Mules Fill UK Jails "The majority of these women
that we work with in prison were the main caregivers - for both the mothers
and grandmothers, and the junior members - they were the main providers for
the household," she stated.
"Therefore once they are taken out of that, the situation is that
the elderly mothers end up with extended families, the children are all over
the streets and become street children because there's no-one there to care
for them." USAID/Jamaica
- Success Stories Education – Harry - An estimated 7,500 children
currently live on the streets of Street
Children Hooked On Ganja She admitted that it will be hard
to keep them off the streets where they can make between $500 and $2,000 a
day begging, borrowing and threatening people. I had an experience sometime in
July of this year when two street children without the driver's permission
wiped the windscreen of the vehicle I was in and when told that there was no
money to pay them the picture was not a pretty one. It is my belief that legislation should be
enacted whereby the parents of street children should be compelled to get
these children off the street. Children First is a newly transformed
independent non-governmental agency. The original project began in 1989 with
the support of Save the Children Fund (UK), with 50 street children. In
The Midst Of Gang Violence, Jamaican NGO Makes A Difference Authorities estimate that there
are hundreds of street children living on or off the street in Human
Rights Education for Street and Working Children: Principles and Practice ACCESS RESTRICTED Human rights can be used as tools to help street and working children deal effectively with those difficult, and often confrontational, situations that they must face on a daily basis. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Jamaica] [other countries]Street Children in [Jamaica Child Prostitution in [Jamaica] [other countries]