Human Trafficking in [Egypt] [other countries]Street Children in [Egypt Child Prostitution in [Egypt] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Egypt.htm
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from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** A new approach to Egypt’s street children United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, www.unicef.org/infobycountry/egypt_30616.html [accessed 9 May 2011] Among the swirling crowds of But the life he found on the
streets was no better, Adel admits. Now after four years of a rootless,
vulnerable existence, he longs to return home. “When I see other children on
their way to school, I wish I could be like them. Here on the streets, I have
no future,” Adel adds with a helpless shrug. Mass Arrests of Street Children in Human Rights Watch, 02/19/03 [accessed 9 May 2011] The Egyptian government conducts
mass arrest campaigns of children whose "crime" is that they are in
need of protection, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
Children in police custody face beatings, sexual
abuse and extortion by police and adult criminal suspects, and police
routinely deny them access to food, bedding and medical care. Young girls learn ABC of Reuters, Dec 12, 2007 www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/12/us-egypt-streetgirls-idUSL2355233720071212 [accessed 9 May 2011] Nora, a mother at just 14, jingled
keys above her infant daughter's head, drawing smiles from the baby she
conceived while living on the streets of ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF – www.unicef.org/infobycountry/egypt.html [accessed 10 May 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/egypt.htm [accessed 3 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Urban areas are also host to large numbers of street children who
have left their homes in the countryside to find work, and often to flee
hostile conditions at home. Street
children work shining shoes, collecting rubbish, begging, cleaning and
directing cars into parking spaces, and selling food and trinkets. Street children are particularly vulnerable
to becoming involved in illicit activities, including stealing, smuggling,
pornography, and prostitution. In
particular, the commercial sexual exploitation of children is greatly
under-acknowledged given that Egyptian cities ( Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61687.htm [accessed 3 February 2011] CHILDREN - The government remained
committed to the protection of children's welfare; in practice, the
government made some progress in eliminating FGM and in affording rights to children
with foreign fathers. However, the government made little progress in
addressing the plight of street children, which remained a significant
problem. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 26 January 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/egypt2001.html [accessed 27 February 2011] [47] In light of its previous
concluding observations and taking note of significant efforts by the State
party to improve education coverage, enrolment and retention levels and the
inclusion of the Convention in the school curricula, the Committee remains
concerned at the poor quality of education in general. The Committee is
further concerned at the lack of success of literacy programs for school
dropouts. [49] In light of its previous
concluding observations, and taking note of efforts by the State party to
address child labor, the Committee remains concerned about this problem. Its
main concerns are: (a) There are insufficient comprehensive and accurate data
available on children working in A child of Jeffrey Fleishman, The articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/17/world/fg-egypt-streetkid17 [accessed 10 May 2011] AMIRA HAS A BABY GIRL AND IS
EXPECTING. SHE IS 13, WITH NO PERMANENT PLACE TO STAY, ONE OF THOUSANDS OF STREET
CHILDREN IN EGYPT, WHOSE LAWS MAKE A HARD LIFE HARDER FOR A SINGLE MOTHER
LIKE HER She has a baby in her arms and
another growing inside. She says she knows about love, says she found it on
the streets, where boys fight with razors and a one-armed glue-huffer whispers the pretty things a girl yearns to hear
before she curls and sleeps in the abandoned buildings that clutter Cairo's
heart. "I love him," says Amira, holding Randa, the
18-month-old daughter she had with Ahmed. "I had an affair with him four
years ago. I love him because he protected me. When anybody bothered me, he'd
fight for me, and when it got cold he took me into his house. I still love
him. I saw him last Friday." Agence France-Presse
AFP, afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5irLH7Qjul1GXkAjwWd77CN0vBtlQ [accessed 10 May 2011] While the situation is difficult
for the children who work while living at home, it is dire for those living
on city streets who are vulnerable to protection
rackets, prostitution and AIDS.
"Their situation is worse. Reintegrating the children living at
home into school is relatively easy. Those on the street are so traumatised that psychological help is the
priority," says Nevine Osman,
coordinator of the state-run National Council for Motherhood and
Childhood. Authorities, protective of
the country's reputation for reform and modernity, are eager to keep the
problem of street children as quiet as possible, with few officials willing
to speak on the subject. According to
UNICEF, a few encouraging signs are emerging such as NGOs like the Hope
Village Society, which takes in street children and teaches them to mentor
others in tougher circumstances. In The www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=97097 [accessed 3 February 2011] In large cities like In Jill Carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, January 31,
2008 www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0131/p01s04-wome.html [accessed 9 May 2011] Kareem and Mustapha were little
more than toddlers when their parents sent them onto Young girls learn ABC of Reuters, Dec 11, 2007 www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/12/us-egypt-streetgirls-idUSL2355233720071212 [accessed 9 May 2011] Nora, a mother at just 14, jingled
keys above her infant daughter's head, drawing smiles from the baby she
conceived while living on the streets of Egypt fights ignorance on HIV/Aids Alasdair Soussi, BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7120737.stm [accessed 9 May 2011] TARGETING THE YOUNG - Meanwhile, HIV/Aids peer education programmes have
been introduced by a range of NGOs dealing with young people. Particular attention is given to those most
at risk, such as Egypt's estimated one million street children. At a reception centre run by the
Cairo-based Hope Village Society, HIV and the risks associated with the
disease are a regular topic of discussion with groups of street children. "HIV is a very dangerous disease, so
because of the training, I'm more aware of risks, and it's influenced my behaviour," says 15-year old Emad.
"I look after myself better now when I'm on the streets than I ever did
before." Zizou kinder and gentler Reem Leila, Al-Ahram
Weekly, Issue No. 870, 8-14 November 2007 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/870/eg11.htm [accessed 9 May 2011] It is hard to tell how many
children are living on the streets of Zidane launches homeless children
project in Cairo Agence France-Presse
AFP, afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gMssjSz75L89Luczw9CURfMpQR1A [accessed 9 May 2011] Besides setting up a home to take
in some of Cairo has between 200,000 and one
million street children, according to the UN's children agency UNICEF. On this trip to Joel Carillet, The Christian
Science Monitor, August 3, 2007 www.csmonitor.com/2007/0803/p19s01-hfes.html?page=1 [accessed 9 May 2011] Being a veteran traveler as well
as having once lived in Colouring pain - Amira
El-Noshokaty delves into a spontaneous yet
harrowing world of imagination, and reality Amira El-Noshokaty,
Al-Ahram Weekly, 19-25 July 2007 -- Issue No. 854 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/854/fe2.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] "I don't dream of anything in
particular. I just wish someone could take me off the street because I'm so
fed up with it." Thus Hoda, 20, a street
artist who paints whatever gives her "a feeling". She is one of
many contributors to On the Street, an art book composed entirely of the work
of street children. Nisrine, 13, speaks of the public garden
where she lived as her home -- a state of affairs constantly undermined by
undercover policemen who would take her in. "at night, when I am alone,
I sit and think what if I get sick? I do not know what I am doing on the
street, I don't know." According to a UNICEF study on
street children in Greater Cairo in 2007, out of 191 street boys and girls,
64 per cent of the boys and 39.3 per cent of the girls were abused at home by
their fathers; 78.9 per cent of the boys have sex with people of the same
sex; 61.7 per cent of boys and 58.6 per cent of girls sniff glue. Out of a
total of 167 children, 48.6 per cent of the girls work as prostitutes. Two get death for killing street kids Reuters, [accessed 10 May 2011] Two leaders of an Egyptian
children’s gang were sentenced to death yesterday for raping and killing at
least three, and possibly up to 26, street children in British Airways staff visit street children centres in Cairo United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, www.unicef.org/media/media_39599.html [accessed 10 May 2011] Five British Airways Cabin Crew had the opportunity to visit centres that have been set up to help street children in
the city. The number of street children is a big issue in Egypt and is on the
rise. Estimates on the number of street children range from 200,000 to one
million, a quarter of the street child population is believed to be less than
12 years old. Streets apart Sara Carr, Al-Ahram Weekly, 5-11
April 2007 -- Issue No. 839 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/839/cu23.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] Accompanying "On the
Street" is a photographic exhibit by Hesham Labib. "Cut Short", a collection of portraits
of five street children, is inspired by Tahani Rached's 2006 documentary film El-Banat
Dol (Those Girls), which presented a harrowing
glimpse into the world of Cairo's street children. Despite their
vulnerability and the misery of their circumstances, Rached's
homeless girls demonstrate a resilience that defies pity; they are proud, and
it is a trait that defines Labib's photographs: the
cinematic quality of these images, their pared down simplicity and above all
their subjects combine to make something beautiful. Even the infuriating and
presumably deliberate absence of any kind of background information about the
photographs and their subjects only contributes to their enigma. Vilified for voicing dissent Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, 04.March .07 www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/vilified-for-voicing-dissent-1.214551 [accessed 10 May 2011] Last month, al-Sadawi
published another article in Al Hayat, blaming male
society for the phenomenon of over two million street children in When she tried to transfer her
daughters to a school in the Shubra neighborhood,
she was told that she had to obtain her husband's approval to do so. She was
unable to locate the deadbeat husband and her connections to the education
minister were useless. In the end, she turned to her mother-in-law, who
managed to persuade her son to submit the paperwork and permits needed to
transfer the girls. However the husband set one condition: that his wife waive her monthly alimony payments in court. Solidarity unlimited Amira El-Noshokaty,
Al-Ahram Weekly, 1-7 March 2007 -- Issue No. 834 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/834/feature.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] NGOs marked a national day for
street children, but, asks Amira El-Noshokaty, what
about the rest of the year? UNICEF Executive Director commends Egypt’s progress towards
Millennium Development Goals United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Cairo/Geneva/ www.unicef.org/media/media_38371.html [accessed 10 May 2011] The need to provide protection to
more vulnerable children – including those living on the streets and girls
subjected to female genital cutting -- were high on the agenda of the UNICEF
Executive Director’s meetings with senior government officials. Excluded and invisible Amira El-Noshokaty,
Al-Ahram Weekly, 21-27 December 2006 -- Issue No.
825 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/825/feature.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] WHY, ASKS AMIRA EL-NOSHOKATY, ARE
NUMEROUS EGYPTIAN CHILDREN LIVING ON THE STREETS? - According to Fadia Abu Shehba, professor at
the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research, "the factors are
numerous, including fragile families, broken homes and the absence of one of
the two pillars of the family. Lack of compatibility within homes gives way
to domestic violence, forcing children to run away. And this is not to
mention the complete lack of any form of parental guidance. Besides, crammed
into little apartments with as little as one room for 10 people, children
often see their parents having sex and want to copy them, initially with
siblings, hence rape and harassment. Children choose the street, where there
is enough room, only to be exploited by street gangs, whether sexually, in
the drug trade or, more recently, trading internationally in their body
parts." Killing Kids Manal el-Jesr,
Egypt Today, January 9, 2007 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 10 May 2011] They admitted that they had lured
street children onto the tops of trains en route from Forgotten children Salama A Salama,
Al-Ahram Weekly, 14-20 December 2006 -- Issue No.
824 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/824/op4.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] As the tragic circumstances of the
rape and killing of street children unfolded, one would have expected the
government to form a committee to look into the phenomenon and find
appropriate solutions. The recent atrocity, attributed to
a gang led by someone called El-Turbini, involved
up to 30 victims. This alone tells us that the phenomenon is as widespread as
it is alarming. We have a Ministry for Social Welfare that is supposedly in
charge of children's homes around the country. We have several NGOs that
receive no financial help from the ministry and rely on funding from private
citizens and foreign aid organisations. And yet the
government has been unable to find real solutions to the problem of homeless
children. The latter are falling prey to gangs of racketeers and drug dealers
who have no qualms or conscience. The phenomenon resonates with the history
of some Latin American countries where belts of poverty around major cities
produce child gangs as well as gangs that kill children. Of mice and men Pierre Loza, Al-Ahram Weekly, 14-20 December 2006 -- Issue No. 824 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/824/eg10.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] The two-week saga surrounding the
capture of an 11-member gang that is believed to have committed a series of
rapes and murders in a number of governorates, including Cairo, Alexandria,
Al-Beheira and Qalioubya,
has prompted concern about the perennial problem of street children.
According to interrogations, 26-year-old Ramadan Abdel-Rahman,
also known as El-Torbini (meaning express train),
is the gang leader who ordered the murders of numerous street children. Although Abdel-Rahman
and his accomplices allegedly led investigators to more than 10 bodies in
scattered parts of the country, they also took them to Marsa
Matruh where no bodies were found. But after being
remanded in custody for an additional 10 days, gang members are said to have
confessed to killing more than 30 street children. Street children worst hit by violence, experts say UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=61949 [accessed 10 May 2011] "We get chased and hit all
the time by all kinds of people, from police to taxi drivers to
passers-by," said 12-year-old Mohammed, who spends most of his time at
the gates of Abla El-Badri,
who heads the government-run National Council for Childhood and Motherhood
(NCCM) committee for street children, said Egypt's half a million street
children were always vulnerable to physical attacks. "If boys find life on the
streets hard, then girls, who might face more frequent sexual attacks and
rape, live in near-constant fear," El-Badri
said. A Firm Foundation Business Today, August 11, 2006 — Source: www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6892 www.nextbillion.net/news/social-entrepreneurship-awards-in-egypt [accessed 10 May 2011] Iskandar put two and two together, and the
result is a program in which garbage collectors recycle the empty containers
instead of reselling them in return for educational funding from the
companies looking to protect their brands. Big business is happy, plastic
goes eco and the garbage collectors get a chance at educational mobility.
It’s a win-win situation. Alasdair Soussi, BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5036382.stm [accessed 10 May 2011] Many Egyptians regard street
children as a nuisance, or at worst as petty criminals fully meriting the
harsh treatment to which they are often subjected. Their health problems are often
severe, ranging from cholera to tuberculosis and anaemia.
Studies show they are exposed to a
variety of toxic substances, both in their food and in the environment around
them. They are also at risk of various
kinds of abuse. In one survey, 86% of street
children questioned identified violence as a major problem in their life,
while 50% stated that they had been exposed to sexual molestation. A new approach to United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, www.unicef.org/infobycountry/egypt_30616.html [accessed 9 May 2011] Among the swirling crowds of But the life he found on the streets
was no better, Adel admits. Now after four years of a rootless, vulnerable
existence, he longs to return home. “When I see other children on their way
to school, I wish I could be like them. Here on the streets, I have no
future,” Adel adds with a helpless shrug. Mass Arrests of Street Children in Human Rights Watch, 02/19/03 [accessed 9 May 2011] The Egyptian government conducts
mass arrest campaigns of children whose "crime" is that they are in
need of protection, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
Children in police custody face beatings, sexual
abuse and extortion by police and adult criminal suspects, and police
routinely deny them access to food, bedding and medical care. Police
Criticized On Child Arrests Steven Lee Myers, The New York Times, February 21, 2003 [accessed 10 May 2011] Street children and truants were
being arrested on the basis that they were ''vulnerable to delinquency,''
even if they had committed no crime. Violence Against Girls in Conflict
with the Law Human Rights Watch, 20 February
2007 www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2007/02/20/global15345.htm [accessed 10 May 2011] VIOLENCE
IN DETENTION FACILITIES - “He [the officer]
curses me and makes me stand while he hits me with a stick. When I fall to
the ground he makes me stand again. He hits me all over my body—from my head
to my feet.” — Amal A., sixteen, detained in
Cairo, Egypt Mass arrests of street children Human Rights Watch, www.hrea.org/lists/child-rights/markup/msg00170.html [accessed 10 May 2011] [scroll down] VOICES OF EGYPT'S STREET CHILDREN SELECTED CHILDREN'S ACCOUNTS SEXUAL ABUSE AND VIOLENCE - The guard here says, 'You are a
woman [sexually].' He keeps saying that to me. I keep saying, 'No, I'm a girl
[i.e. a virgin].' Yesterday, he said, 'If you are really a girl, take your
clothes off so we can examine you. -Warda N., sixteen The guards at the [ Every little bit [the guards at al
Azbekiya] hit us. They hit us with belts. When they
come to wake us, they wake us up with belts. If someone says anything, they
hit all of us -Marwan ` They ask you where you are from.
Then the prosecutor says 'You stole something.' I say, 'I didn't steal
anything.' Then he says, 'O.K. Begging.' - Khaled
M., eleven Information About Street Children - This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for North
Africa and the Middle East on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 3-6 March 2004, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 22 September 2011] A quarter of the street child
population is believed to be less than 12 years old, with two-thirds between
13 and 16 years old and only 10% over 17.
The key factors pushing children onto the streets in Child Protection - United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 10 May 2011] These children lead an unhealthy
and often dangerous life that leaves them deprived of their basic needs for
protection, guidance, and supervision and exposes them to different forms of
exploitation and abuse. For many, survival on the street means begging and
sexual exploitation by adults. Update December 2001 – United Nations Office for Drug
Control and Crime Prevention [PDF] UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention UNODCCP,
December 2001 www.unodc.org/pdf/newsletter_2001-12-01_1.pdf [accessed 10 May 2011] [page 12] HOPE FOR STREET CHILDREN IN EGYPT - With some 16 million
inhabitants Cairo is the biggest city in Africa and the Middle East. It is
also home to a rapidly growing street children population of around 150,000.
Many of these unfortunate children have to deal with broken families,
poverty, abuse and violence. Sadly, drugs such as cannabis herb, tablets, and
solvents, are all too often used to cope with the pain, violence, and hunger
of the streets. Drug Demand Reduction among Street
Children in UN Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC www.unodc.org/egypt/en/drug_demand_reduction_egypt.html [accessed 10 May 2011] The project builds up
comprehensive drug abuse prevention and treatment services for street
children in 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 - |
Human Trafficking in [Egypt] [other countries]Street Children in [Egypt Child Prostitution in [Egypt] [other countries]