Street children

{{short description|Homeless children living on the street}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} [[File:Les Misérables - Le petit Gavroche.jpg|thumb|Gavroche, a fictional character in the historical novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo, is inspired by the street children who existed in France in the 19th century.|upright=1.3]] [[File:Turk and Russian, Greek and Jew are represented in this group of half a dozen little street gamins Two of them are the proud possessors of tops and pieces of string to spin them with. LCCN2010650581 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Multiethnic group of "street gamins" in Istanbul (then known in English as Constantinople), 1921|upright=1.3]] {{see|gamine}} '''Street children''' are poor and/or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called '''street kids''', or '''urchins'''; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use UNICEF's concept of boys and girls, aged under 18 years, for whom "the street" (including unoccupied dwellings and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised.<ref>{{cite web |title=State of the World's Street Children: Violence Report |url=http://www.slideshare.net/Consortium/state-of-the-worlds-street-children-violence-report |work=SlideShare |publisher=SlideShare Inc |access-date=30 November 2012 |author=Sarah Thomas de Benitez |date=23 February 2009 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225173931/https://www.slideshare.net/Consortium/state-of-the-worlds-street-children-violence-report%20 |url-status=live }}</ref> Street girls are sometimes called '''gamines''',<ref name="gamine; Reference.com">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gamine?s=t|title=Gamine | Define Gamine at Dictionary.com|publisher=Reference.com|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=noun 1. a neglected girl who is left to run about the streets. [...]|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131659/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gamine?s=t|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gamine; Merriam-Webster">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamine|title=Gamine - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=Full Definition of GAMINE 1: a girl who hangs around on the streets [...]|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006111002/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamine|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gamine; Oxford Dictionaries Online">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gamine|title=gamine: definition of gamine in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)|dictionary=Oxford Dictionaries Online|access-date=5 October 2014|quote=[...] 2 (dated) A female street urchin: 'I left school and fell in with some gamines'|archive-date=20 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520004055/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gamine}}</ref> a term that is also used for Colombian street children of either sex.<ref name="Generation Under Fire">{{harvp|Kirk|1994}}</ref><ref name="SOS Children's Villages">{{cite web|url=http://www.street-children.org.uk/south-america/colombia|title=Street Children in Colombia|publisher=SOS Children's Villages|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121028/http://www.street-children.org.uk/south-america/colombia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NIAAA 2004-08-23">{{cite web|url=http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Module10DHomeless/Module10D.pdf|title=Alcohol Use Disorders in Homeless Populations|date=23 August 2004|publisher=NIAAA|page=9|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305170953/http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Module10DHomeless/Module10D.pdf}}</ref>

Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called thrown-away children, consisting of children who have been forced to leave home. Thrown-away children are more likely to come from single-parent homes.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|pp=20–21}}</ref> Street children are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that have been hired by local businesses or police.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://yapi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/report-street-children.pdf|title=Victimization and Abuse of Street Children Worldwide|year=1997|publisher=Yapi|work=Youth Advocate Program International Resource Paper|access-date=30 November 2012|first=Evgenia|last=Berezina|archive-date=18 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318010231/http://yapi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/report-street-children.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Definitions == According to Consortium for Street Children, a street child has been defined as one "for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults".<ref name="Benitez">{{cite journal |last=Thomas de Benítez |first=Sarah |year=2007 |title=State of the world's street children |url=http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/content.asp?pageID=88 |journal=Consortium for Street Children |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222170433/http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/content.asp?pageID=88 |archive-date=February 22, 2012 |access-date=February 20, 2012}}</ref>

==Statistics and distribution== Street children can be found in a large majority of the world's famous cities, with the phenomenon more prevalent in densely populated urban hubs of developing or economically unstable regions, such as some countries in Africa, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/media/media_39599.html |title=UNICEF - Press centre - British Airways staff visit street children centres in Cairo |publisher=www.unicef.org |access-date=5 February 2008 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200929/http://www.unicef.org/media/media_39599.html }}</ref>

According to a report from 1988 of the Consortium for Street Children, a United Kingdom-based consortium of related non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UNICEF estimated that 100 million children were growing up on urban streets around the world. Fourteen years later, in 2002 UNICEF similarly reported, "The latest estimates put the numbers of these children as high as one hundred million". More recently the organization added, "The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world. It is likely that the numbers are increasing."<ref name="Sarah">{{cite web|title=State of the World's Street Children: Violence|url=http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/publications/state_of_the_world_-_violence.pdf|work=Street Children Series|publisher=Consortium for Street Children (UK)|access-date=30 November 2012|author=Sarah Thomas de Benítez|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723130038/http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/publications/state_of_the_world_-_violence.pdf|archive-date=23 July 2013}}</ref> In an attempt to form a more reliable estimate, a statistical model based on the number of street children and relevant social indicators for 184 countries was developed; according to this model, there are 10 to 15 million street children in the world. Although it produced a statistically reliable estimate of the number of street children, the model is highly dependent on the definition of "street children," national estimates, and data collected on the development level of the country, and it is thus limited in range.<ref>{{harvp|Naterer|Lavrič|2016}}</ref> The one hundred million figure is still commonly cited for street children, but is not based on currently available academic research.<ref>{{harvp|Ennew|Milne|1990}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Hecht|1998}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Green|1998}}</ref> Similarly, it is debatable whether numbers of street children are growing globally, or whether it is the awareness of street children within societies that has grown.<ref name="Sarah" />

Comprehensive street level research, completed in the year 2000 in Cape Town<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://homestead.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cape-Metropolitan-Area-Street-People-Research-May-2000-and-Appendix-A-Paul-Hooper.compressed-1.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=29 January 2019 |archive-date=30 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130000154/http://homestead.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cape-Metropolitan-Area-Street-People-Research-May-2000-and-Appendix-A-Paul-Hooper.compressed-1.pdf }}</ref> proved that international estimates of tens of thousands of street children living on the streets of Cape Town were incorrect. This research proved, that even with street children begging at every intersection, rivers of street children sleeping on the pavements at night, and with gangs of street children roaming around the streets, there were less than 800 children living on the streets of greater Cape Town at this time. This insight enabled a whole new approach to street children to be developed, one not based on the provision of basic care to masses of street children, but one focused on helping individual children, on healing, educating, stabilizing, and developing them permanently away from street life, as well as managing the exploitation of street children and the support factors that keep them on the street.

==History== [[File:Riischildren.jpg|thumb|Children sleeping in Mulberry Street, New York City, 1890 (Jacob Riis photo)]]

In 1848, Lord Ashley referred to more than 30,000 "naked, filthy, roaming lawless, and deserted children" in and around London, UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Life of the Industrial Worker in Ninteenth-Century England|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers2.html|work=The Victorian Web|publisher=The Victorian Web/West Virginia University|access-date=30 November 2012|author=Laura Del Col|year=1988|archive-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325143604/http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Among many English novels featuring them as a humanitarian problem are ''Jessica's First Prayer'' by Sarah Smith (1867) and Georgina Castle Smith's ''Nothing to Nobody'' (1872).<ref>Charlotte Mitchell: Smith, Georgina Castle... ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-41041?rskey=8xWYL9&result=1 Retrieved 3 April 2018.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124104220/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-41041?rskey=8xWYL9&result=1 |date=24 November 2021 }}</ref>

By 1922, there were at least seven million homeless children in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic due to the devastation from World War I and the Russian Civil War (see "Orphans in the Soviet Union").<ref>{{harvp|Ball|1994|p=1}}</ref> Abandoned children formed gangs, created their own argot, and engaged in petty theft and prostitution.<ref>{{cite web|title=1921: Homeless Children|url=http://soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1921bezprizornye&Year=1921&Theme=WW91dGg=&navi=byTheme|work=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History|access-date=30 November 2012|author=Lewis Siegelbaum|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618151628/http://soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1921bezprizornye&Year=1921&Theme=WW91dGg=&navi=byTheme|archive-date=18 June 2013}}</ref>

==Causes== The causes of this phenomenon are varied, but are often related to domestic, economic, or social disruption. This includes, but is not limited to: poverty; breakdown of homes and/or families; political unrest; acculturation; sexual, physical or emotional abuse; domestic violence; being lured away by pimps, internet predators, or begging syndicates; mental health problems; substance abuse; and sexual orientation or gender identity issues.<ref name="Flowers_p1"/> Children may end up on the streets due to cultural factors. For example, some children in parts of the Congo and Uganda are made to leave their families on suspicion of being witches who bring bad luck.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109hhrg23435/pdf/CHRG-109hhrg23435.pdf|title=Protecting Street Children|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=17 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017042953/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109hhrg23435/pdf/CHRG-109hhrg23435.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In Afghanistan, young girls who are accused of "honor crimes" that shame their families and/or cultural practices may be forced to leave their homes ‒ this could include refusing an arranged marriage, or even being raped or sexually abused, if that is considered adultery in their culture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Street Children|url=http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/street-children|publisher=War Child|access-date=10 March 2013|archive-date=29 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329200210/http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/street-children}}</ref> Regardless of the cause, there are negative impacts on the health of street children, for example on their respiratory health. <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Umashankar |first1=Samyuktha |last2=Tharumakunarajah |first2=Ramiyya |last3=Lee |first3=Alice |last4=Savithri |first4=Sugandi |last5=Hawcutt |first5=Daniel B. |last6=Sinha |first6=Ian P. |date=2025-07-13 |title=Respiratory health of street and working children: challenges and opportunities |url=https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/9/1/e002676 |journal=BMJ Paediatrics Open |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |article-number=e002676 |doi=10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002676 |issn=2399-9772 |pmc=12258310 |pmid=40659449}}</ref>

==By country== ===Africa===

====Kenya==== UNICEF works with CARITAS and with other non-governmental organizations in Kenya to address street children.<ref>"[http://www.unicef.org/egypt/protection_4397.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424064603/http://www.unicef.org/egypt/protection_4397.html|date=24 April 2015}} UNICEF Egypt - Child protection - Street children: issues {{harvp|Cottrell-Boyce|2010}}</ref>

====South Africa==== Street Children are legally protected by the South African Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, which defines street children as "children living, working and begging on the street" and as "Children in need of Care and Protection". South Africa has done much to address street children and the South African government now partially funds street children organisations. Parents of vulnerable children can access a monthly child care grant, and organisations have developed effective street outreach, drop-in centres, therapeutic residential care, and prevention and early intervention services for street children.

Comprehensive Street level research, completed in the year 2000 in Cape Town,<ref name="auto"/> proved that international estimates of tens of thousands of street children living on the street were incorrect. This research proved, that even with street children begging at every intersection, rivers of street children sleeping on the pavements at night, and with gangs of street children roaming around the streets, there were less than 800 children living on the streets of greater Cape Town at this time. This insight enabled a whole new approach to street children to be developed, one not based on the provision of basic care to masses of street children, but one focused on helping individual children, on healing, educating, stabilizing, and developing them permanently away from street life, as well as managing exploitation of street children and support factors that keep them on the street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://homestead.org.za/|title=Home|website=homestead.org.za|language=en-ZA|access-date=2019-08-28|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075906/https://homestead.org.za/|url-status=live}}</ref>

This approach has effectively reduced the number of children living on the streets of Cape Town by over 90%, even with over 200 children continuing to move onto the street each year. It has also seen absconding-from-care rates decline to less than 7%, and the success rate for getting children off the street has reached 80 to 90%. The number of street-vulnerable children, that is the number of chronically neglected, sexually and physically abused, traumatised community children, remains however unacceptably high, with school drop-out rates a real concern and with schools battling to deal with the high number of traumatized children they have to contend with.

====Sierra Leone==== Sierra Leone was considered to be the poorest nation in the world, according to the UN World Poverty Index 2008.

Whilst the current{{when |date=August 2025}} picture is more optimistic,{{citation needed |date=August 2025}} with World Bank projections for 2013/14 ranked Sierra Leone as having the second fastest-growing economy in the world, a prevalent lack of child rights and extreme poverty remain widespread.

There are{{when |date=August 2025}} close to 50,000 children relying upon the streets for their survival, a portion of them living full-time on the streets.<ref name="streetchild">{{Cite web|url=https://www.street-child.co.uk/protecting-children|title=What We Do - Protecting Children|website=Street Child|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=16 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016152718/https://www.street-child.co.uk/protecting-children|url-status=live}}</ref> There are also an estimated 300,000 children in Sierra Leone without access to education.<ref name="streetchild"/> Often neglected rural areas – of which there are many – offer little or no opportunity for children to break from the existing cycle of poverty.

===Asia=== ====Bangladesh==== [[File:Street Child, Srimangal Railway Station.jpg|thumb|A street child in Bangladesh]] {{Main|Street children in Bangladesh}}

No recent statistics on street children in Bangladesh are available. UNICEF puts the number above 670,000 referring to a study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, "Estimation of the Size of Street Children and their Projection for Major Urban Areas of Bangladesh, 2005". About 36% of these children are in the capital city Dhaka according to the same study. Though Bangladesh improved the Human Capital Index over the decades, (HDI is 0.558 according to the 2014 HDR of UNDP and Bangladesh at 142 among 187 countries and territories), these children still represent the absolute lowest level in the social hierarchy. The same study projected the number of street children to be 1.14m in year 2014.<ref name="Investing in Vulnerable Children, UNICEF">{{cite web|last=Investing in Vulnerable Children|title=UNICEF|url=http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Investing_in_children_(Web).pdf|access-date=24 December 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074052/http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Investing_in_children_(Web).pdf}}</ref><ref name="Street Children - Bangladesh">{{cite web|last=Children in Bangladesh|title=Street Children - Bangladesh|url=http://streetchildren-bangladesh.blogspot.com/|access-date=11 March 2014|archive-date=6 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706054937/http://streetchildren-bangladesh.blogspot.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="World Bank Blogs">{{cite web|last=End Poverty in South Asia|title=World Bank Blogs|date=21 October 2011|url=http://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/jante-chai-learning-through-interacting-street-children-bangladesh|access-date=11 March 2014|archive-date=10 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310172601/http://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/jante-chai-learning-through-interacting-street-children-bangladesh|url-status=live}}</ref>

====India==== {{Main|Street children in India}} India has an estimated one million or more street children in each of the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Poonam R. Naik |author2=Seema S. Bansode |author3=Ratnenedra R. Shinde |author4=Abhay S. Nirgude |year=2011 |title=Street children of Mumbai: demographic profile and substance abuse |journal=Biomedical Research |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=495–498}}</ref> When considering India as a whole, there are approximately 18 million children who earn their living off the streets in cities and rural areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Street children: The neglected pathology |url=https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/street-children-the-neglected-pathology |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=orfonline.org |language=en}}</ref> It is more common for street children to be male and the average age is fourteen. Although adolescent girls are more protected by families than boys are, when girls do break the bonds they are often worse off than boys are, as they are lured into prostitution.<ref>{{harvp|Brown|Larson|Saraswathi|2002}}</ref> Due to the acceleration in economic growth in India, an economic rift has appeared, with just over thirty-two per cent of the population living below the poverty line.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND|title=Poverty & Equity Data Portal|website=povertydata.worldbank.org|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=25 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125073110/http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND|url-status=live}}</ref> Owing to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, the attraction of city life, and a lack of political will, India has developed one of the largest child labor forces in the world.

====Indonesia==== According to a 2007 study, there were over 170,000 street children living in Indonesia.<ref>(Street Children Statistics-Unicef, pg. 5)</ref> In 2000, about 1,600 children were living on the streets of Yogyakarta. Approximately five hundred of these children were girls between four and sixteen years of age.<ref name="Ansell, 2005, pp.203">{{harvp|Ansell|2005|p=203}}</ref> Many children began living on the streets after the 1997 Asian financial crisis in Indonesia. Girls living on the street face more difficulties than boys living on the street as often girls are abused by the street boys because of the patriarchal nature of the culture. "They abuse girls, refuse to acknowledge them as street children, but liken them to prostitutes."<ref name="Ansell, 2005, pp.203"/> Many girls become dependent on boyfriends; they receive material support in exchange for sex.

The street children in Indonesia are seen as a public nuisance. "They are detained, subjected to verbal and physical abuse, their means of livelihood (guitars for busking, goods for sale) confiscated, and some have been shot attempting to flee the police."<ref name="Ansell, 2005, pp.203"/>

====Iran==== There are between 60,000 and 200,000 street children in Iran (2016).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/04/22/streets-of-tehran-teem-with-children/|title=Streets of Tehran teem with children|date=22 April 2007 |access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=17 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917123541/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-04-22/news/0704220021_1_tehran-street-children-children-in-iran|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Pakistan==== [[File:KabulStreet04a.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|An Afghan street boy photographed in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan (June 2003)]] The number of street children in Pakistan is estimated to be between 1.2 million<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilmoamal.org/Street_Children.htm |title=Ilm-o-Amal |publisher=Ilm-o-Amal |access-date=12 September 2011 |archive-date=30 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330231148/http://www.ilmoamal.org/Street_Children.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0228/461/ |title=PAKISTAN: 1.2 Million Street Children Abandoned and Exploited |publisher=Acr.hrschool.org |date=4 May 2005 |access-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930032904/http://acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0228/461/ |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref> and 1.5 million.<ref name="UN">{{Cite web |url=http://www.un.org.pk/pakistans-street-children/ |title=PAKISTAN'S (STREET) CHILDREN |author=United Nations |access-date=20 November 2023 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725153209/http://www.un.org.pk/pakistans-street-children/ }}</ref> Issues like domestic violence, unemployment, natural disasters, poverty, unequal industrialization, unplanned rapid urbanization, family disintegration and lack of education are considered the major factors behind the increase in the number of street children. Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) carried out a study which presented 56.5% of the children interviewed in Multan, 82.2% in Karachi, 80.5% in Hyderabad and 83.3% in Sukkur were forced to move on to the streets after the 2010 and 2011 floods.<ref name="Paki Street children">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sparcpk.org/2015/Other-Publications/streetchildren-bro.pdf |title=Street Children of Pakistan |publisher=Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child |page=2 |location=Islamabad, Pakistan |via=Royal Norwegian Embassy |access-date=20 November 2023 |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619114838/http://www.sparcpk.org/2015/Other-Publications/streetchildren-bro.pdf }}</ref>

====Philippines==== {{Main|Street children in the Philippines}}{{See also|Rugby boy}} According to the 1998 report titled "Situation of the Youth in the Philippines", there are about 1.5 million street children in the Philippines,<ref>{{cite web |title=Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children |url=http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/Philippines.htm |work=Street Children |publisher=Gvnet.com |access-date=30 November 2012 |first1=Martin |last1=Patt |year=2000–2010 |archive-date=12 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412114209/http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/Philippines.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> 70% of which are boys. Street children as young as ten years old can be imprisoned alongside adults under the country's Vagrancy Act; in past cases, physical and sexual abuse have occurred as a result of this legislation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://charlesesalazar.pbworks.com/f/youth+in+the+philippines.pdf|title="Youth in the Philippines: A Review of the Youth Situation and National Policies and Programmes." N.p., 2000. Web.|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024191529/http://charlesesalazar.pbworks.com/f/youth+in+the+philippines.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Vietnam==== According to The Street Educators' Club, the number of street children in Vietnam has shrunk from 21,000 in 2003 to 8,000 in 2007. The number dropped from 1,507 to 113 in Hanoi and from 8,507 to 794 in Ho Chi Minh City.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11722|title=VIETNAM Greater commitment to Vietnamese street children needed|last=AsiaNews.it|website=www.asianews.it|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=14 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214150655/http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11722|url-status=live}}</ref> There are currently almost four hundred humanitarian organizations and international non-governmental organizations providing help to about 15,000 Vietnamese children.<ref>''"A Greater commitment to Vietnamese street children needed", Asia News, March 2008''</ref>

==== North Korea ==== {{Main|Kotjebi}} Ever since the North Korean famine in the 1990s, North Korea has hosted a large population of homeless children known as kotjebi, or "flower swallows" in Korean.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cha |first=Victor D. |url=http://archive.org/details/impossiblestaten0000chav_j2c1 |title=The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future |publisher=Ecco |others=Internet Archive |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-06-199850-8 |location=New York |pages=186–187 |language=en |lccn=2012009517 |oclc=1244862785}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Madison |date=2013-05-13 |title=Orphaned and homeless: Surviving the streets of North Korea |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/world/asia/north-korea-orphans/index.html |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075902/https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/world/asia/north-korea-orphans/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, Daily NK reported that the government was interning kotjebi in kwalliso camps and that the children there were beginning to suffer from malnutrition due to low rations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hui |first=Mun Dong |date=2018-08-20 |title=Forced labor prescribed for North Korea's malnourished street children |url=https://www.dailynk.com/english/forced-labor-prescribed-for-north-koreas-malnourished-street-children/ |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=Daily NK |language=en-US |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075904/https://www.dailynk.com/english/forced-labor-prescribed-for-north-koreas-malnourished-street-children/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2021, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that hundreds of homeless orphans "volunteered" to work in manual labor projects, raising concerns over the possibility that homeless North Korean children were being conscripted into forced labor projects.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-05-29 |title=North Korea says orphan children volunteering on mines and farms |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57293167 |access-date=2022-05-14 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118104243/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57293167 |url-status=live }}</ref> The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also reported that homeless children faced increasing risks of starvation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent food security crisis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lederer |first=Edith M. |date=2021-10-13 |title=Children and elderly in North Korea face starvation, U.N. report says |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-10-13/u-n-report-children-and-elderly-in-north-korea-face-starvation |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075857/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-10-13/u-n-report-children-and-elderly-in-north-korea-face-starvation |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Europe=== {{See also|Street children in Eastern Europe}}

====Greece==== Greece's street child activity is heavily connected with human trafficking.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece">{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/greece.php|title=Children's Rights: Greece | Law Library of Congress|first=Theresa|last=Papademetriou|date=16 April 2012|website=www.loc.gov|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415062953/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/greece.php}}</ref> In 2003, street children located in state-run facilities had disappeared. The disappearance is suspected to be linked to human trafficking.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece" /> The numbers have decreased in recent years, and Greece has taken "legislative action to criminalize human trafficking and related crimes", though Amnesty International reports that the problem still exists, and there is a failure of government protection and justice of trafficked children.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece" />

Begging and other street activities have been outlawed in Greece since 2003, but the recent unemployment hike has increased levels of these actions.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece" />

There are few programs for displaced children in Greece, which created a ''street child'' problem in the early 2000s. Giving foster parents to special needs children is not something the Greek government has done, leading to higher numbers of physically or mentally disabled street children.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece" /> There are also deterrents for working and poor parents in Greece making them more willing to force their children to the streets. For example, orphans are given financial benefits, but if they live in state-run facilities they cannot receive these benefits. For working parents to get government subsidies, they often have to have more than one child.<ref name="Children's Rights in Greece" />

====Romania==== [[File:Romanian_ration-card_for_bread,_1989.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Romanian ration card, 1989. The forced natalist policy of Nicolae Ceauşescu coupled with poverty led families unable to cope.]]

{{Further|Decree 770|Romanian orphans}} The phenomenon of street children in Romania must be understood within the local historical context. In 1966, in communist Romania, ruler Nicolae Ceauşescu outlawed contraception and abortion, enacting an aggressive natalist policy, in an effort to increase the population. As families were not able to cope, thousands of unwanted children were placed in state orphanages where they faced terrible conditions. The struggle of families was made worse in the 1980s, when the state agreed to implement an austerity program in exchange for international loans, leading to a dramatic drop in living standards and to food rationing; and the fall of communism in December 1989 meant additional economic and social insecurity. Under such conditions, in the 1990s, many children moved onto the streets, with some being from the orphanages, while others were runaways from impoverished families. During the transition period from communism to market economy in the 1990s, social issues such as those of these children were low on the government's agenda. Nevertheless, by the turn of the century things were improving. A 2000 report from the Council of Europe estimated that there were approximately 1,000 street children in the city of Bucharest. The prevalence of street children has led to a rapidly increasing sex tourism business in Romania; although, efforts have been made to decrease the number of street children in the country.<ref name="hf">{{cite web|title=Children|url=http://www.hiltonfoundation.org/press/16-pdf3.pdf|work=Conrad N. Hilton Foundation|access-date=30 November 2012|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208075915/http://www.hiltonfoundation.org/press/16-pdf3.pdf|archive-date=8 December 2011}}</ref> The 2001 documentary film ''Children Underground'' documents the plight of Romanian street children, in particular their struggles with malnutrition, sexual exploitation, and substance abuse. In the 1990s, street children were often seen begging, inhaling 'aurolac' from sniffing bags, and roaming around the Bucharest Metro. In the 21st century, the number of children living permanently on the streets dropped significantly, although more children worked on the streets all day, but returned home to their parents at night. By 2004, it was estimated that less than 500 children lived permanently in the streets in Bucharest, while less than 1,500 worked in the streets during the day, returning home to their families in the evening.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/romania/children_1603.html|title=UNICEF Romania - The children - Children living on the streets|website=www.unicef.org|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=1 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701194302/https://www.unicef.org/romania/children_1603.html}}</ref> By 2014, the street children of the 1990s were adults, and many were reported to be living 'underground' in the tunnels and sewers beneath the streets of Bucharest, with some having their own children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/romania-tunnels-bucharest-orphans-photo|title=Beneath the streets of Romania's capital, a living hell|date=20 May 2014|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406101448/https://www.channel4.com/news/romania-tunnels-bucharest-orphans-photo|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Clear}}

====Russia==== In 2001, it was estimated that Russia had about one million street children,<ref>{{cite web |first=Steve |last=Harrigan |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/07/02/russian.kids/index.html |title='Child by child,' group aids homeless street kids |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=2 July 2001 |access-date=12 September 2011 |archive-date=31 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831213224/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/07/02/russian.kids/index.html }}</ref> and one in four crimes involved underage individuals. Officially, the number of children without supervision is more than 700,000.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

According to UNICEF, there were 64,000 homeless street children brought to hospitals by various governmental services (e.g. police) in 2005. In 2008, the number was 60,000.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gks.ru/doc_2009/deti09_rus.pdf | title=Дети в России | trans-title=Children in Russia | publisher=UNICEF | date=2009 | access-date=2 September 2014 | archive-date=1 May 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501040051/http://www.gks.ru/doc_2009/deti09_rus.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Sweden==== In 2012, unaccompanied male minors from Morocco started claiming asylum in Sweden.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/barnen-som-lever-pa-gatan-och-livnar-sig-pa-brott|title=Migrationsverket: Aldrig stött på en liknande grupp barn|work=SVT Nyheter|access-date=2018-01-21|language=sv|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075859/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/barnen-som-lever-pa-gatan-och-livnar-sig-pa-brott|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014, 384 claimed asylum. Knowing that their chances of receiving refugee status was slim, they frequently ran away from the refugee housing to live on the streets.<ref name=":0" />

In 2016, of the estimated 800 street children in Sweden, Morocco is the most prevalent country of origin.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.gp.se/nyheter/sverige/svensk-marockanskt-avtal-om-gatubarn-1.964323|title=Svensk-marockanskt avtal om gatubarn|work=Göteborgs-Posten|access-date=2018-01-20|language=sv|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813081405/https://www.gp.se/nyheter/sverige/svensk-marockanskt-avtal-om-gatubarn-1.964323|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the governments of Sweden and Morocco signed a treaty to facilitate their repatriation to Morocco.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://omni.se/nytt-avtal-med-marocko-for-utvisning-av-gatubarnen/a/0EknG|title=Nytt avtal med Marocko för utvisning av gatubarnen|work=Omni|access-date=2018-01-20|language=sv-SE|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813075902/https://omni.se/nytt-avtal-med-marocko-for-utvisning-av-gatubarnen/a/0EknG|url-status=live}}</ref> Efforts by authorities to aid the youth were declined by the youth who preferred living on the street and supporting themselves by crime. Morocco was initially reluctant to accept the repatriates, but as they could be identified using the Moroccan fingerprint database, repatriation could take place once Moroccan citizenship had been proven. Of the 77 males Morocco accepted, 65 had stated a false identity when claiming asylum to Sweden.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/falska-identiteter-vanliga-hos-ensamkommande-fran-marocko|title=Falsk identitet vanligt bland asylsökande från Marocko|last=Svensson|first=Frida|work=SvD.se|access-date=2018-01-21|language=sv|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510180210/https://www.svd.se/falska-identiteter-vanliga-hos-ensamkommande-fran-marocko|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Turkey==== {{More citations needed|date=January 2021}} {{Update|section|inaccurate=yes|date=January 2020}} Research conducted by the Turkish Prime Ministry's Human Rights Presidency (BİHB) indicated that of Turkey's 30,891 street children, 30,109 live in Istanbul, 20 were identified in Ankara, and Turkey's third-largest city, İzmir, had none. Kocaeli Province was reported to have 687 street children while Eskişehir has 47. The research also revealed that 41,000 children are forced to beg on the streets, more than half of whom are found in Istanbul. Other cities with high figures include Ankara (6,700), Diyarbakır (3,300), Mersin (637) and Van (640).

Based on unofficial estimates, 88,000 children in Turkey live on the streets, and the country has the fourth-highest rate of underage substance abuse in the world. 4 percent of all children in Turkey are subject to sexual abuse, with 70 percent of the victims being younger than 10. Contrary to popular belief, boys are subject to sexual abuse as frequently as girls. In reported cases of children subject to commercial sexual exploitation, 77 percent of the children came from broken homes. Twenty-three percent lived with their parents, but in those homes domestic violence was common. The biggest risk faced by children who run away and live on the street is sexual exploitation. Children kidnapped from southeastern provinces are forced into prostitution here. Today, it is impossible to say for certain how many children in Turkey are being subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, but many say official information is off by at least 85 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/Turkey.htm|title=Street Children - Turkey|website=gvnet.com|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=17 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617203315/http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/Turkey.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to a study that sampled 54,928 students in Sanliurfa, Turkey, 7.5% of working children worked in the streets. 21.0% of the children spent the night outside and 37.4 % were obliged to spend the night outside since they work.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=KAHRAMAN |first1=Selma |last2=KARATAŞ |first2=Hülya |title=The Existing State Analysis of Working Children on the Street in Sanliurfa, Turkey |journal=Iranian Journal of Public Health |date=2018 |volume=47 |issue=9 |pages=1300–1307 |issn=2251-6085 |pmc=6174033 |pmid=30320004}}</ref>

===America=== {{see also|Street children in Latin America}}

====United States==== [[File:Homeless children in US 2006-10.png|thumb|Homeless children in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=America's Youngest Outcasts 2010|url=http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf|work=State Report Card on Child Homelessness|publisher=The National Center on Family Homelessness|access-date=30 November 2012|author=The National Center on Family Homelessness|date=December 2011|archive-date=22 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322192547/http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of homeless children reached record highs in 2011,<ref name="Mach">{{cite news |author=Andrew Mach |date=13 December 2011 |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/1213/Homeless-children-at-record-high-in-US.-Can-the-trend-be-reversed |title=Homeless children at record high in US. Can the trend be reversed? |publisher=Christian Science Monitor |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327082254/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/1213/Homeless-children-at-record-high-in-US.-Can-the-trend-be-reversed |url-status=live }}</ref> 2012,<ref name=coalition4homeless>[http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/state-of-the-homeless-2012 "State of the Homeless 2012"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522104617/http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/state-of-the-homeless-2012 |date=22 May 2014 }} ''Coalition for the Homeless'', 8 June 2012</ref> and 2013<ref name="Dvorak">{{cite news |author=Petula Dvorak |date=8 February 2013 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/600-homeless-children-in-dc-and-no-one-seems-to-care/2013/02/08/a728a0ea-722b-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html |title=600 homeless children in D.C., and no one seems to care |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728161958/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-08/local/36993838_1_homeless-kids-bus-shelters-homeless-children |archive-date=28 July 2013 }}</ref> at about three times their number in 1983.<ref name=coalition4homeless/>]] The number of homeless children in the US grew from 1.2 million in 2007 to 1.6 million in 2010. The United States defines homelessness per the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act.<ref>Bassuk, E.L., ''et al.'' (2011) [http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf ''America's Youngest Outcasts: 2010''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322192547/http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf |date=22 March 2016 }} (Needham, MA: The National Center on Family Homelessness) page 20</ref> The number of homeless children reached record highs in 2011,<ref name="Mach"/> 2012,<ref name="coalition4homeless"/> and 2013<ref name="Dvorak"/> at about three times their number in 1983.<ref name=coalition4homeless/> An "estimated two million [youth] run away from or are forced out of their homes each year" in the United States.<ref name="Flowers_p1">{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=1}}</ref> The difference in these numbers can be attributed to the temporary nature of street children in the United States, unlike the more permanent state in developing countries.

In the United States 83% of "street children" do not leave their state of origin.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=53}}</ref> If they do leave their state of origin they are likely to end up in large cities, notably New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, and San Francisco.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=55}}</ref> In the United States, street children are predominantly Caucasian, female, and 42% identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=48}}</ref>

The United States government has been making efforts since the late 1970s to accommodate this section of the population. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act of 1978 made funding available for shelters and funded the National Runaway Switchboard. Other efforts include the Child Abuse and Treatment Act of 1974, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=161}}</ref> There has also been a decline in arrest rates in street youth, dropping in 30,000 arrests from 1998 to 2007. Instead, the authorities are referring homeless youth to state-run social service agencies.<ref>{{harvp|Flowers|2010|p=65}}</ref>

====Honduras==== In Honduras between 1998 and 2002, hundreds of street children were reportedly abducted, tortured and murdered by police and civilian "cleanup squads".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/honduras-investigates-murders-of-1300-street-children-175864.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/honduras-investigates-murders-of-1300-street-children-175864.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Honduras investigates murders of 1,300 street children|date=4 September 2002|website=The Independent|access-date=16 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1485680.stm|title=Honduras condemned over child killings|date=11 August 2001|access-date=16 October 2019|via=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213174309/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1485680.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/>

===South America=== {{see also|Street children in Latin America}} According to some estimates made in 1982 by UNICEF, there were forty million street children in Latin America,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tacon |first=P. |year=1982 |title=Carlinhos: the hard gloss of city polish |journal=UNICEF News}}</ref> most of whom work on the streets, but they do not necessarily live on the streets. A majority of the street children in Latin America are males between the ages of 10 and 14. There are two categories of street children in Latin America: home-based and street-based. Home-based children have homes and families to return to, while street-based children do not. A majority of street children in Latin America are home-based.<ref>{{harvp|Scanlon|Tomkins|Lynch|Scanlon|1998}}</ref>

====Brazil==== The Brazilian government estimates that the number of children and adolescents in 2012 who work or sleep on the streets was approximately 23,973,<ref>{{cite web|title=Street Children in Brazil|publisher=Consortium for Street Children|year=2012|url=http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/publications/Street_Children_in_Brazil_-_Briefing_to_IPU_2012.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927194157/http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/publications/Street_Children_in_Brazil_-_Briefing_to_IPU_2012.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> based on results from the national census mandated by the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency (SDH) and the Institute for Sustainable Development (Idesp).<ref>{{cite web|title=Grandes cidades têm 23.973 crianças de rua; 63% vão parar lá por brigas em casa|url=http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/impresso,grandes-cidades-tem-23973-criancas-de-rua-63-vao-parar-la-por-brigas-em-casa,683816,0.htm|work=Estadao.com.br/Sao Paulo|publisher=Grupo Estado|access-date=30 November 2012|author=Bruno Paes Manso|language=pt|date=24 February 2011|archive-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710043052/http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/impresso,grandes-cidades-tem-23973-criancas-de-rua-63-vao-parar-la-por-brigas-em-casa,683816,0.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Oceania=== ====Australia==== As of 2016, around 24,200 Australian youth were listed as homeless. The majority of homeless youth are located in the State of New South Wales. Youth homelessness has been subject to a number of independent studies, some calling for the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct an inquiry on the matter.<ref name=salvos1>[http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Youth-homelessness/ "Youth Homelessness."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611013855/http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Youth-homelessness/ |date=11 June 2015 }} Salvation Army. Accessed 31 May 2015.</ref>

== Government and non-government responses == ===Responses by governments=== While some governments have implemented programs to deal with street children, the general solution involves placing the children into orphanages, juvenile homes, or correctional institutions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=34083 |title=Only if 500 street kids or more |publisher=www.dailyexpress.com.my |access-date=7 February 2008 |work=Daily Express |location=Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517215101/http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=34083 |archive-date=17 May 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56524448 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070715141521/http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56524448 |archive-date=15 July 2007 |title=Gov't Promises residential Facility for Street Children |work=Stabroek News |publisher=www.stabroeknews.com |access-date=7 February 2008 }}</ref> Efforts have been made by various governments to support or partner with non-government organizations.<ref>{{cite news|title=PMC to build a nest for street kids|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/PMC-to-build-a-nest-for-street-kids/articleshow/2760175.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019185120/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-02-06/pune/27766097_1_street-children-street-kids-pmc-schools|url-status=live|archive-date=19 October 2012|access-date=30 November 2012|date=6 February 2008|newspaper=The Times of India|agency=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd}}</ref> In Colombia, the government has tried to implement programs to put these children in state-run homes, but efforts have largely failed, and street children have become a victim group of social cleansing by the National Police because they are assumed to be drug users and criminals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/colombia/iglhr96_colombia_socialcleansing.pdf|title=Ordoñez, Juan Pablo. No Human Being Is Disposable: Social Cleansing, Human Rights, and Sexual Orientation in Colombia. Reports on Human Rights in Colombia. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, January 1996|date=24 July 2019|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=2 February 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040202085421/http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/colombia/iglhr96_colombia_socialcleansing.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In Australia, the primary response to homelessness is the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). The program is limited in its effectiveness. An estimated one in two young people who seek a bed from SAAP are turned away because services are full.<ref name=salvos1/>

===Public approaches to street children=== There are four categories of how societies deal with street children: correctional model, rehabilitative model, outreach strategies, and preventive approach. There is no significant benefit when comparing therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy and family therapy with standard services such as drop-in center.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Coren E, Hossain R, Pardo JP, Bakker B |title=Interventions for Promoting Reintegration and Reducing Harmful Behaviour and Lifestyles in Street-Connected Children and Young People |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |date=13 January 2016 |volume=2016 |issue=1 |article-number=CD009823 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD009823.pub3 |pmid=26760047 |pmc=7096770}}</ref>

*The correctional model is primarily used by governments and the police. They view children as a public nuisance and risk to security of the general public. The objective of this model would be to protect the public and help keep the kids away from a life of crime. The methods this model uses to keep the children away from the life of crime are the juvenile justice system and specific institutions. *The rehabilitative model is supported by churches and NGOs. The view of this model is that street children are damaged and in need of help. The objective of this model is to rehabilitate children into mainstream society. The methods used to keep children from going back to the streets are education, drug detoxification programs, and providing children with a safe family-like environment. *The outreach strategy is supported by street teachers, NGOs, and church organizations. This strategy views ''street children'' as oppressed individuals in need of support from their communities. The objective of the Outreach strategy is to empower the ''street children'' by providing outreach education and training to support children. *The preventive approach is supported by NGOs, the coalition of ''street children'', and lobbying governments. They view street children's poor circumstances from negative social and economic forces. In order to help street children, this approach focuses on the problems that cause children to leave their homes for the street by targeting parents' unemployment, poor housing campaign for children's rights.<ref>{{harvp|Ansell|2005|p=205}}</ref>

===NGO responses=== Non-government organizations employ a wide variety of strategies to address the needs and rights of street children. One example of an NGO effort is "The Street Children's Day", launched by Jugend Eine Welt on 31 January 2009 to highlight the situation of street children. The "Street Children's Day" has been commemorated every year since its inception in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tag der Straßen- kinder|url=http://www.jugendeinewelt.at/tagderstrassenkinder.0.html|work=Jugend Eine Welt|access-date=30 November 2012|language=de|year=2012|archive-date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031045448/http://www.jugendeinewelt.at/tagderstrassenkinder.0.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Street children differ in age, gender, ethnicity, and social class, and these children have had different experiences throughout their lifetimes. UNICEF differentiates between the different types of children living on the street in three different categories: candidates for the street (street children who work and hang out on the streets), children on the streets (children who work on the street but have a home to go to at night), and children of the street (children who live on the street without family support).[45]

Horatio Alger's book, ''Tattered Tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab'' (1871), is an early example of the appearance of street children in literature. The book follows the tale of a homeless girl who lives by her wits on the streets of New York City. Other examples from popular fiction include Kim, from Rudyard Kipling's novel of the same name, who is a street child in colonial India. Gavroche, in Victor Hugo's ''Les Misérables'', Fagin's crew of child pickpockets in Charles Dickens's ''Oliver Twist'', a similar group of child thieves in Cornelia Funke's ''The Thief Lord'', and Sherlock Holmes' "Baker Street Irregulars" are other notable examples of the presence of street children in popular works of literature.

During the mid-1970s in Australia, a number of youth refuges were established. These refuges were founded by local youth workers, providing crisis accommodation, and soon began getting funding from the Australian government. In New South Wales, these early refuges include Caretakers Cottage, Young People's Refuge, and Taldemunde among others. Within years of their founding, these refuges began receiving funding from the Department of Family and Community Services.<ref name=coffey1>Coffey, Michael. [http://www.drbilldayanthropologist.com/resources/Freedom%20to%20Sleep.pdf "What Ever Happened to the Revolution? Activism and the Early Days of Youth Refuges in NSW."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528104225/http://www.drbilldayanthropologist.com/resources/Freedom%20to%20Sleep.pdf |date=28 May 2015 }} ''Parity''. Volume 19, Issue 10. Another Country: Histories of Homelessness. Council to Homeless Persons. (2006): 23-25.</ref>

==References== {{reflist|24em}}

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==External links== {{commons category}} * [https://www.street-child.co.uk/ Street Child]: A UK charity that aims to create educational opportunity for some of the most vulnerable children in West Africa. * [https://thehopefoundation.org.uk/ The Hope Foundation]: Offering protection, education and healthcare to street children in Kolkata, India * [http://elephantcloud.net/?p=1130 Street Children in Gimbi, Ethiopia, including documentary of a specific boy] * [http://streetconnect.org/ Streetconnect.org]: A clearing house of information for and about homeless youth * ''[http://www.hummingbirdmovie.com/ Hummingbird]'': A documentary about two NGOs in Brazil that work with street kids] * [http://www.thegoodmanproject.org/ The Goodman Project]: A foundation set up to help the street kids in India and Asia * [http://childrensrightsportal.org/focus/street-children/ Street Children]: Article on the Children's Rights Portal * [http://www.tagderstrassenkinder.at/ Street Children's Day - 31 January (in German)]: Day to highlight the situation of these children and young people. * [https://pkdemy.com/20-easy-best-of-waste-ideas-for-kids]: Best Out Of Wastes For Children]

Category:Street children Category:Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement Category:Children's street culture Category:Homelessness Children Category:Youth Category:Child poverty Category:Child abuse