Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first
decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Thailand.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in 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. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** The Bangkok
attraction Jeremy P. Meyer, www.denverpost.com/jonbenet/ci_4244063 [accessed 30 July
2011] A portion of the
estimated 200,000 to 300,000 sex workers in At an underpass in
central One boy,
10-year-old "Ice," said three times a month someone offers to pay
him for sex. He always declines. But social workers fear the lure of money
will someday change his mind. Ice and his brother sleep on the floor in his
grandmother's one-room shack in a shantytown. She makes money by scavenging
for scraps of metal while he begs. A birthday party
for kids who don't know their age Craig and Marc
Kielburger, www.thestar.com/GTA/GlobalVoices/article/184096 [accessed 30 July
2011] Many of the street
children at the centre had never met their parents because they were left at
the door as babies. So once a year, one lucky kid picks a day for
"everybody's birthday," which they all celebrate together. We were
honoured to attend this party for all the children. It was organized by
the kids themselves – kids who couldn't afford shoes of their own but shined
shoes for mere pennies. They saved those pennies one by one to buy simple
things, like watermelon, for their celebration. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/thailand.htm [accessed 29
December 2010] CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The government
maintains a child labor reporting hotline, facilitates the participation of
communities in anti-child labor activities, and has initiated a public
awareness campaign that includes information about child labor laws. The Department of Social Development and
Welfare (DSDW) has established shelters for street children and provides
child victims legal assistance, including counseling and rehabilitation services. The Department also provides vocational
training to improve children’s skills and prevent them from entering work
prematurely. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61628.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] CHILDREN
-
There were believed to be approximately 20 thousand street children in major urban
centers. The government implemented new guidelines to improve the processing
of child trafficking victims from Street children were often left out
of national reports on child labor issues and national statistics on street children often included only
citizens, although the majority were non-citizens. Street children were often exploited
by organized gangs as beggars or to sell flowers or other items. Many of
these children were forced to turn over their daily earnings to the gang and
were paid less than a dollar a day. There were reports of street children who were bought,
rented, or forcibly "borrowed" from their parents or guardians in
order to beg alongside women on sidewalks and overpasses. This was
particularly true in areas of the capital frequented by tourists. Working
conditions for these children were poor, leaving them exposed to the elements
for long periods of time and open to further exploitation Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 9 October 1998 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/thailand1998.html [accessed 29
December 2010] [22] The Committee
notes the establishment by the State party of a program to encourage the
reinforcement of the family environment and to strengthen parenting skills
among both parents. The Committee remains concerned, however, at the high
rate of abandonment of children, especially children born out of wedlock and
children of poor families. In this regard, the Committee also expresses
concern at the lack of adequate alternative care facilities and qualified
personnel in this field. [27] While the
Committee notes the high rate of school enrolment, particularly at the
primary level, and the recent initiative to establish additional schools in
rural communities, it is still concerned that some children, particularly
those living in poverty and in nomadic and hill tribe communities, do not
have access to education. In the light of the recent economic constraints,
the Committee is also concerned at the number of children, particularly girls,
leaving school prematurely to engage in labor. [29] While
welcoming the recent adoption of the Labor Protection Act of 1998, in which
the minimum legal age for access to work has been increased from 13 to 15
years, the Committee remains concerned at the high rate of economic
exploitation, as well as at the increasing number of children leaving school,
sometimes at an early age, to work to support themselves and their families. Abolitionists tell
story of Michele Willer-Allred, www.vcstar.com/news/2010/oct/13/abolitionists-tell-story-of-thailands-child-sex/ [accessed 2 October
2011] archive.vcstar.com/news/abolitionists-tell-story-of-thailands-child-sex-slaves-ep-367247911-347232382.html [accessed 15 November 2016] In 2006, Batstone
met Nam in northern Thailand during his research around the world for his
seventh book called “Not for Sale.” Most had been
kidnapped or sold by their parents, and all ended up in the child-sex
brothels of Chiang Mai. Some had
escaped from the brothels but feared they would be recaptured. Once in The Forgotten Class
- Makeshift weekend schools in Pichaya Svasti, Sep
3, 2008 -- Photos by Yingyong Un-Anongrak zinesye.multiply.com/journal/item/11?&item_id=11&view:replies=reverse [accessed 30 July
2011] The problems of the
students often stem from their own parents. "Many of the parents are
homeless and do not think about the future of their kids," said Naphat.
"Some children are called by their mothers to leave class and go
begging." The children are
eager to have an education, however. According to Naphat, there are 20
children from the Sanam Luang area and more than 10 others under the Ramon Gonzalez,
Western Catholic Reporter WCR, wcr.ab.ca/old-site/news/2008/0616/west061608.shtml [accessed 30 July
2011] MASSIVE BIRTHDAY
PARTY -
Kielburger learned that street children who didn't know their parents, let
alone their ages or birth dates, pooled their meagre resources and held one
massive birthday party every year. Kielburger cancelled his plans to return
to After the party he
postponed his trip back to Begging some
difficult questions Nattha Keenapan, www.unicef.org/thailand/reallives_6619.html [accessed 31 July
2011] Cambodians make up
the largest group of non-Thai beggars in While earlier
studies on begging in Bangkok focused on the fact that many child beggars are
forced to beg, a survey published in October last year by the NGO Friends
International and the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human
Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, entitled The Nature and Scope
of the Foreign Child Beggar Issue in Bangkok, suggests that most Cambodian
child beggars come voluntarily with their mothers or relatives. According to
Friends International, which works with street children in Academic says ‘open houses’ needed to help
street children Anjira Assavanonda, [accessed 9 January
2017] Thailand
needs to set up ‘’open houses'’ in border areas to assist street children who
have entered Thailand from neighbouring countries, an academic said
yesterday. Sompong Chitradub, an education lecturer at Tourism enterprises
bring hope to the street children of Phuket Michael Verikios,
traveldailynews, July 27, 2006 [accessed 9 January
2017] A new shelter for
homeless children was officially opened in Patong, Phuket district. The aim of the new
shelter is to provide a safe environment for homeless children as they commence
a new life away from the streets. It houses up to 30 street children between
the ages of 11 – 16 in dormitory style accommodation as well as housing the
staff on site. The Home is accessible 24 hours a day to innocent victims of
abuse, neglect, abandonment and homelessness, as well as runaways and those
facing family crisis. Equipped with modern facilities and run by staff
trained in the rehabilitation and counseling of street children, the home
will offer a happy environment for children to play, learn and relax in
safety. From thief to
“foster father of 50,000 street children” AsiaNews/Ucan, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 31 July
2011] Dr Amporn
Wathanavongs, “the foster father of 50,000 children” is one of Migrant Children in
Especially Difficult Circumstances [DOC] Asian Research
Centre for Migration (ARCM), Institute of Asian Studies, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 31 July
2011] CHAPTER FOUR: MEANS OF ENTERING Stories
From The Field [access information
unavailable] Many street
children live in the area around Information about
Street Children - This report is taken
from “A Civil Society Forum for East and South East Asia on Promoting and
Protecting the Rights of Street Children”, 12-14 March 2003, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 31 July
2011] Key push factors:
family economic pressures / income instability impacting on increasingly
fragmented family support structures; inability to support basic needs and
education; conflict and violence; children’s search for independence,
Personal characteristics / psychology of adolescence,- vulnerability of
children aged 12-18 to influences in the environment such as video games and
night life; attempted runaway behavior at the age of 13-15 may lead to
permanent separation at a later stage.
Education - inappropriate discipline, especially involving
humiliation, and lack of understanding by teachers along with lack of family
support contributes to dropout. Youth
Camp Hopes To acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0124/119/ [accessed 31 July
2011] The idea of the
camp is to give the children enough time to look at themselves, what they
want to do in the future and then guide them with a road map to get there. Facts and Statistics Foundation for
Children At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 31 July
2011] HOMELESS CHILDREN - A survey of Childlife-A
Future For Street Children Childlife www.kinderleben.org/index_eng.htm [accessed 31 July
2011] The purpose of
Childlife is to provide the street children in Mae Sai with a safe refuge,
shelter and home, food, health and non-formal 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 - |
