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Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

In the first decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/StVincent&Grenadines.htm

St. Vincent & the Grenadines Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in agriculture, tourism, and construction activity as well as remittance inflows. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism, but persistent high unemployment has prompted many to leave the islands. This lower-middle-income country is vulnerable to natural disasters - tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002. In 2007, the islands had more than 200,000 tourist arrivals, mostly to the Grenadines. The government's ability to invest in social programs and respond to external shocks is constrained by its high debt burden - 25% of current revenues are directed towards debt servicing. [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE

Students

If you are looking for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this page and others to see which aspect(s) of street life are of particular interest to you. You might be interested in exploring how children got there, how they survive, and how some manage to leave the street. Perhaps your paper could focus on how some street children abuse the public and how they are abused by the public … and how they abuse each other. Would you like to write about market children? homeless children? Sexual and labor exploitation? begging? violence? addiction? hunger? neglect? etc. There is a lot to the subject of Street Children. Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line.

Teachers

Check out some of the Resources for Teachers attached to this website.

*** ARCHIVES ***

The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF]

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2007

www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/tda/tda2006/Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines.pdf

[accessed 25 December 2010]

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There is concern that child prostitution is becoming a larger problem in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - Research has not identified any policies or programs by the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to address exploitive child labor.

Human Rights Reports » 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 25, 2009

2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/wha/119173.htm

[accessed 11 February 2020]

CHILDREN - The government was committed to children's rights and welfare; however, child abuse remained a problem.

SECTION 6 WORKER RIGHTS – [d] The law sets the minimum working age at 16, and workers may receive a national insurance card at that age. The Ministry of Labor monitored and enforced this provision, and employers generally respected it in practice. There were five labor officers in the labor inspectorate with responsibility for monitoring all labor issues and complaints. The ministry reported no child labor problems. The only known child labor was work on family-owned banana plantations, particularly during harvest time, or in family-owned cottage industries. The government operated Youth Empowerment, which provided training and increased job opportunities by employing young persons in government ministries for up to one year.

Study of Child Vulnerability in Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & The Grenadines [PDF]

UNICEF Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, in association with the Governments of Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines

www.unicef.org/barbados/cao_resources_vulnerability.pdf

[accessed 25 July 2011]

[page 14] STREET CHILDREN - Children living or working on the street were not identified by the Coordinating Committee as a major area of vulnerability and the issue did not emerge as a significant concern among respondents – adults or children – interviewed for this study or during the National Consultations. There appears to be no data on the issue in the three countries, although information from the Division of Human Services in St. Lucia suggested that some children were without adult supervision. This leaves them vulnerable to sexual and other kinds of abuses. In St. Vincent, the Minister for Social Development, the Family, Gender and Ecclesiastical Affairs has pointed to an increase in the number of street children and proposed that laws be revised to prosecute their parents for child abuse and neglect. His concern echoed that of the UNCRC Committee, which commented on the sexual exploitation of children, including boys and street children, for payment.

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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Street Children - St. Vincent & the Grenadines", http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/StVincent&Grenadines.htm, [accessed <date>]