Many people
seem to think that homelessness in youth and adolescence is an issue for
developing countries. A recent article that I read about homelessness and human
trafficking talked about the presence of this in developed countries and how
big of a problem that it has become. Human trafficking has become an issue that
goes hand in hand with homelessness in youth and adolescence. In the United States alone, there are 1.7
million homeless adolescents. Most of these youth (roughly 75%) use drugs and
have a range of health problems. These people often times have less education,
are under-employed or unemployed and make them a prime target for sexual abuse.
According to the article, "The National Network for Youth report that the
rate of sexual assault on these youth are up to three times higher than the
general public. This includes being assaulted on the streets and in
shelters".
One of the
most common problems seen with these adolescence is survival sex -- "the
exchange of sex for necessities needed to get through the night such as food,
shelter, safety, or drugs to ease the discomfort of withdrawal from a
particular substance". These people are often sexually abused and their
labor is demoralized. In order to stay safe, a lot of these children travel in groups
in order to protect themselves. The teens find themselves staying in 24-hour
neighborhoods, which are neighborhoods in which the activity level is high so
that the large pack of teenagers traveling together doesn't draw negative
attention. These often times aren't the best areas to reside because of their
prostitution and drug trade issues.
These
homeless children are known around the world as street youth, and worldwide,
there are over 100 million of them. The causes of homelessness can greatly differ
around the world. For example, in the United States, the more common reasons
for homelessness in youth are abuse at home, bullying from peers because of
their sexual orientation, poverty, or substance abuse. In other countries, the
more common reasons for homelessness in youth are extreme poverty, civil war,
parental death from HIV or AIDS, and sometimes natural disasters.
Back in
1992, the United Nations created the Resolution on the Plight of Street
Children, which called for nations to work together to protect the children,
specifically from violence and hardship. Numerous developing nations with
street children lack the resources that are demanded in order to help these
kids, which has mainly resulted in a lack of interest towards the subject matter.
Many
children express shame and displeasure from the "jobs" that they have
to work in order to continue living. A lot of children experience mental
illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder from the events that they encounter
during their jobs. One of the biggest concerns is to provide these people with
the resources and help that they need because of the magnitude of the issue.
There is a lot of violence, criminal activity and health related problems
associated with these homeless communities and it is time that people become
aware of the problem, even in developed countries.
Reference
http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/homeless-youth-the-worlds-100-million-street-children-75309/
This is a great area to address Shelby. Street life is tough and these children go through a lot. It always pains me to think of the struggles in the lives of the street children at many levels. India also has a huge issue of children living on streets and their vulnerable life. The further important point is not many strategies work with them and developing a participatory program where the "experts" really understand their challenges is difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe homelessness in children popularly refer to as street children is a hopeless situation across the world and especially in poverty stricken Africa. UNICEF estimated that tens of millions of children worldwide are street children and many of them can be found in African towns and cities. For example in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Nairobi (Kenya),up to 100,000 street children are found living on the streets and exposed to all hazards of life. In Ghana for instance, most of these kids are either abandoned due to visible or invisible disability and therefore they are unwanted by their families, others are products of teen pregnancies and portions are also run away kids or orphans. The causes are innumerable and the solutions seem unreachable. Some governments and NGO's have taken steps to address the issue of street kids; policies are put in place, laws passed, orphanages are built and the list goes on but the street of children "pandemic" remains a huge challenge not only for individual countries but the world as a whole. Street children phenomenon is a breeding ground for human trafficking, illicit drug use, prostitution, crimes , violence just to mention a few. These are global problems that need concerted efforts to address the issue. UNICEF as a world body is doing what it can and in my opinion, much is dependent upon community leaders, local governments and nations to tackle the problem from the roots.
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