Human Trafficking in [Costa Rica] [other countries]
Street Children in [Costa Rica] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Costa Rica] [other countries]
 

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Republic of Costa Rica [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Costa Rica [map], located in Central America, is bounded by Nicaragua (N), the Caribbean Sea (E), Panama (SE), and the Pacific Ocean (S & W). Its capital and largest city is San José. Costa Rica has met the majority of the overall goals of the World Summit for Children, particularly in the basic areas of health and education.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Costa Rica. 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.

Quick Search for Missing Children - Select Gender, Country (Costa Rica), and Years Missing

UNICEF - The Big Picture

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

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The “National Agenda for Children and Adolescents, 2000-2010,” aims to prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labor and achieve 100 percent retention of children in basic education by the year 2010. In addition, the Government of Costa Rica is implementing a national plan to eliminate child labor. The Government is also providing small loans to families with children at-risk of working. The Government supports a radio campaign aimed at raising awareness on the plight of street children, and stay-in-school programs are offered to child victims of trafficking. In April 2004, the government and Save the Children-Sweden launched an awareness-raising campaign against trafficking and exploitation at Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2005

CHILDREN - The government, security officials, and child advocacy organizations acknowledged that the commercial sexual exploitation of children remained serious problems. PANI estimated that three thousand children suffered from commercial sexual exploitation and street children in the urban areas of San Jose, Limon, and Puntarenas were particularly at risk. During the year PANI reported that it provided assistance to minors in 120 separate cases of commercial sexual exploitation.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005

[51] The Committee regrets the lack of information on street children in the State party’s report, while the occurrence of children living in the street appears to be widespread. The concern is accentuated by the fact that, as indicated by the State party, a high number of street children are addicted to drugs and are victims of sexual exploitation.

Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) Starts Review Of Report

Concerning street children, the Government had established institutions, which developed alternative living conditions for children in the street and without shelter. The National Children's Trust also played an important role in promoting the welfare of street children through programs of rehabilitation. Already, specific programs had been executed in San Jose and coastal regions to assist street children.

Bands Of Children Back On Streets In San José

Bands of young thieves, called "chapulines" in Spanish, have reappeared on the streets of San José, mostly in the downtown area and mostly at night. The groups of children number upwards of 30 or more and seem to be directed by adults. Some of the youngsters appear to be only 8 or 9 years old. The youngsters, mostly homeless children, will use their numbers to steal, to roll unwary passersby and to practice aggressive begging.

Street Children Transformed Into Ordinary Teens

They were society’s rejects. The street children of San José. They generated a feeling of contempt, of pity, perhaps of fear.  When Gail Nystrom began trying to help street children she saw a mass, a swirl of individuals, a cracked-out mass. But soon she began to separate out the individuals.

HB Fuller Costa Rica Ordered to Change Labels on Toxic Glue

Although they are chemicals, solvent based shoe glues are the principal "drug" of choice amongst the estimated 40 million street children in Latin America. Street children, often as young as just 5 or 6 years old, inhale the potent solvent based glues to try and suppress feelings of hunger, cold and abandonment. The toluene or cyclohexane solvents used in shoe glues cause permanent and irreversible brain damage in the pre-pubescent street children.

Country information: Costa Rica

COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN IN TOURISM - Children are enticed by promises of well-paid jobs and end up being sexually exploited for commercial gain. The same fate can befall the street children, of which there are estimated to be some 8,000 in San José.

Casa Alianza Report Reveals Challenges Ahead

The long-awaited report on the state of Costa Rica's street children revealed shocking statistics and painted a grim picture of the nation's youth. "This reports details a painful situation," Pacheco said, referring to the statistic of 1,500 children and adolescents living on the streets. Yet despite the depressing nature of the report, Harris told The Tico Times he was encouraged by the attention that Pacheco and his government are giving to the problem, and remains hopeful that changes will come.

Street Children Campaign Launched In Costa Rica

147.000 children in Costa Rica have to work to survive; 280.000 children of school age are not in to school. In the first semester of 2002, the National Children League (PANI) received 11,782 complaints of child abuse.

A Throwaway Generation

Martha and Angie, both crack addicts, live on the streets of San José. Angie has never attended school and survives through begging. But without intervention, Angie seems certain to suffer the same fate as Martha, who pays for illicit drugs with money from prostitution and theft.

SOS Children in Costa Rica

The second Costa Rican SOS Children community opened in 2000 in Puerto Limón on the Caribbean coast, one of poorest parts of the country with many social problems. SOS Children's Village Limón has ten family houses, providing a home for over 100 children and a kindergarten for children between 3 and 6 years old from both the SOS Children's Village and the neighborhood.

Street Children Get A Second Chance

The Bible Society of Costa Rica is aiming to change the lives of some of the estimated 143,000 street children who work the streets of the capital, San José, and other towns.

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Human Trafficking in [Costa Rica] [other countries]
Street Children in [Costa Rica] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Costa Rica] [other countries]