Human Trafficking in [Colombia] [other countries]Street Children in [Colombia Child Prostitution in [Colombia] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children Colombia [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] |
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CAUTION: The following links and
accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in Quick Search for Missing Children
- Select Gender, Country ( UNICEF - The Big Picture U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban areas, children are found working as domestic servants,
and also in the retail and services sectors, and in activities such as street
vending and waiting tables. Children
are involved in commercial sexual exploitation either on the streets or in
private establishments such as bars, brothels, or massage parlors, and tend
to range in age from 13 to 17 years. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - Public schooling is provided up to
age 18, and is universal, compulsory, and free up to age 15. The National
Department of Statistics (DANE) estimated that more
than 8 million children between ages 6 and 15 attended school. The government
covered the basic costs of primary education, although many families
struggled with additional expenses such as matriculation fees after age 15,
books, school supplies, and transportation costs that often were prohibitive,
particularly for the rural poor. SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
The legal minimum age for work was inconsistent with completing a basic
education, and only 38 percent of working children attended school. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2000 [34] In the light of article 6 and
other related provisions of the Convention, the Committee is deeply concerned
at the threat posed by the armed conflict to children's lives, including
instances of extrajudicial killing, disappearance and torture committed by
the police and paramilitary groups; at the multiple instances of "social
cleansing" of street children; and at the persistent impunity of the
perpetrators of such crimes. [38] In the light of its
recommendation concerning the need to conduct special investigations in cases
of gross violations of human rights involving children, the Committee regrets
the lack of follow-up information on this issue and reiterates its concern
about alleged cases of street children tortured and ill-treated by members of
the police and/or paramilitary groups. [41] The Committee further
reiterates its concern that children deprived of their family environment may
increasingly travel to the main cities, where they may live on the streets
and be particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. [63] The Committee expresses most
particular concern for children who work or live in the street in order to
survive and who require special attention because of the risks to which they
are exposed. Making
“Disposables” ‘Angels of the House’ They come cautiously and
unbelieving, many in the most desperate of straits. The facial expressions of
the children when they spot the food keep the volunteers wanting to be there
to look after the cooking and clean-up, no matter how pressing their outside
commitments. Diana Sanchez could not
work in more desolate circumstances, but is mostly too busy to even notice. Bogota’s hungry
children number in the tens of thousands.
The stories of the children’s backgrounds are always sad. No one wants
them, for some not even their own families. At worst, they are `Los desachables’:
the disposables; at best, the “gamines”, in Espanola pronounced (gah MEE nays). Sent out onto the streets to fend for
themselves, they forage in the garbage along with the city’s stray dogs. To be a poor child in Colombia is
as complex as the circumstances that made them. It is to be a runway, a
disposable, a child prostitute, or a child abandoned by a family coming into
the city from a war zone. In some
circumstances, a mother knowing her brood goes hungry sends one child out to
the streets in the hopes that even a few pesos will make the difference at
that night’s supper table. In other even crueler instances, a child is
thrown out onto the street because there will be one less mouth to feed. SOS Children: Street
Children in Colombia In "Social
Cleansing" Of Children Frankie has been on the street
since he was eight years old. He has
survived three "social cleansing" attempts on his life. Let the Children Live
– The Gamines They are called 'the disposable
ones', the children who live - and sometimes die - in the streets and the
rubbish dumps of the cities of Human Rights
Watch Colombia Report Street children and other youths
in Colombia Reality
Check: Politics In Youth
Ambassadors for Peace - Colombia Children are the victims of
"disappearances" and massacres and are currently dying at a rate of
12 each day as a direct result of violence. Children are forced to live as
refugees abroad or are displaced within their own country, and many take to
the streets as a means of survival. These children then confront the dangers
of hunger, harassment, sexual abuse and forced prostitution, death or even
murder. With the current atmosphere of violence and poverty, the majority of
children in Colombia go without an education. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Colombia] [other countries]Street Children in [Colombia Child Prostitution in [Colombia] [other countries]